Investigating quality of data and the need for the restructuring of accident report form in South Africa

A reliable data quality system is a priority to all organisations or departments around the globe. Quality data is of great value to the agencies managing the road traffic system in South Africa in such areas as improvement of road safety complications, reconstruction of roads, advocating for adequate resources, strategising new public safety campaigns, and strengthening the enforcement of road policies to curb prevalent road accidents. The quality of the road accident data compiled at local level, according to complaints from the data users [data consumers], is alleged to be inaccurate, inadequate with regard to the relevant data demanded by the data users. Due to this effect, a need for a continuous and efficient assessment plan is considered at the local level [municipality level], where the preliminary data collection process is initiated, with the objective of uncovering and discarding the existence of errors or anomalies which frustrate the chance of raising the quality of the data processed at the provincial level. In an attempt to have a detail understanding on these anomalies, however, objectives of this study are to investigate and evaluate the anomalies that exist during the reporting and recording of road accident data at the Stellenbosch Traffic Department under the jurisdiction of the Stellenbosch Municipality-Western Cape 024, and the necessity for the improvement of the Accident Report form to accommodate more information and better understanding of its application. These objectives are achieved through research questions designed to guide the methodology applied to execute the investigation. These questions cut across how simple and comprehensible the Accident Report form is to the users, and the practicality of the information provided in the form in understanding causes of road accidents and in managing resources in preventing road accidents in the Stellenbosch area. In this case, the methodology applied is based on the four-stage approach model, which includes the understanding and evaluation of the process engaged in the traffic department, in order to have a big picture about the vulnerable areas and the responsible factors affecting the quality of data collected through the use of Accident Report form. The methodology also incorporates the collection of the right data by assessing the information completed in the form through definite dimensions and metrics, and also a questionnaire was developed to substantiate both quantitative and qualitative data collection processes which involved the participation of the South African Police Service, as one of the authorised data collectors in the Stellenbosch. With the aim of making this investigation a successful one, the analysis of the data collected was performed to determine the persistent accumulation of errors per data field in the Accident Report form, and the practical evaluation of data usability as applicable to the road accident occurrence within the Stellenbosch area, coupled with the analysis of the applicability of the Accident Report form through the understanding of the data collected with questionnaire. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za