•ir it COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 26.05.1997 
COM(97) 238 final 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 
on progress with the project 
and its future prospects 
CARE 
Community Database on Road Traffic Accidents 
Council Decision of 30 November 1993 
(93/704/EC) 

Table of Contents 
1. INTRODUCTION 3 
1.1 Basis for the report 3 
1.2 The history of CARE 3 
2. CURRENT SITUATION 4 
2.1 The CARE concept 4 
2.2 Initial phase 5 
2.3 Data transmission, access and validation 7 
2.4 Data confidentiality and security 8 
2.4.1. Treatment of data explicitly declared as confidential 9 
2.5 Heterogeneous data definitions and structures 9 
2.6 Results and conclusions from the first three years 10 
2.6.1 Database in operation 10 
2.6.2 Data homogeneity 10 
2.6.3 Data availability 10 
2.6.4 Data confidentiality and security 10 
2.6.5 Cooperation with the Member States 10 
2.6.6 Data quality _ 10 
2.6.7 Data complexity 11 
2.6.8 Publications 11 
3. THE FUTURE PROSPECTS 12 
3.1 Towards an advanced Information System 12 
3.2 Policy on use and dissemination of information 13 
3.2.1 Online access to the Reference Database 14 
3.2.2 Online access to the Dissemination Database 14 
3.2.3 Access to standard tables within the CARE Information System 14 
3.2.4 Publications 16 
3.3 General aspects of the future development of CARE 16 
4. CONCLUSION 17 
2 
1. Introduction 
1.1 Basis for the report 
Road traffic accidents in the Member States of the European Union annually claim 
about 45 000 lives and leave more than 1.5 million people injured, representing 
estimated costs of 150 million ECU. Since 1984 a large number of measures to 
reduce road accidents have been taken at the Community level. Along with these 
measures, the Council adopted a Decision on 30 November 1993 on the creation 
of a Community database on road accidents (93/704/EC).1 
It was commonly agreed that such a database at the Community level would make 
it possible to identify and quantify road safety problems, evaluate the efficiency of 
road safety measures, determine the relevance of Community actions and facilitate 
the exchange of experience in this field. 
Article 6 of the Council Decision requires the Commission to prepare a report on 
progress with the project and its future prospects three years after the application 
of the Council Decision. 
1.2 The history of CARE 
Following on from a Council Resolution in 1984 calling for Community action in the 
field of road safety, the European Parliament requested the creation of a 
Community road accident database in its resolution in 1986 on Community 
measures for the reduction of road accidents.2 
In 1988 an OECD expert group outlined the way towards a "Framework for 
consistent traffic and [disaggregated] accident statistical databases". In 1989 the 
Commission announced the creation of an accident database in its communication 
"Road Safety: a priority for the Community". Two years later this concept was 
adopted by a high-level group of experts and was likewise classified as a priority 
("Gerondeau report", February 1991). 
Based on a feasibility study conducted by the Commission and in close 
concertation with the governmental experts' working group, the High-Level Group 
on Road Safety at its meeting of 15 and 16 October 1992 confirmed for its part the 
necessity of the creation of such a database. 
In 1993, the Commission presented both its White Paper on the Future 
Development of the Common Transport Policy and its communication for an action 
programme on road safety, where the matter was again considered as a priority. A 
corresponding proposal (COM (93) 348 final) was presented to the Council and to 
the European Parliament in July 1993.3 The Council eventually adopted the above 
proposal on the creation of a Community database on road accidents on 30 
November 1993. 
'0^0 329, 30.12.1993, p. 63, 
2OJNo C68, 24.3. 1986, p. 35. 
3 OJ No C 225, 20. 8. 1993, p. 6. 
2. Current situation 
2.1 The CARE concept 
CARE represents the creation of a Community database on road accidents 
resulting in death or injury. The major difference between CARE and most other 
existing international databases is the high level of disaggregation, i.e. CARE 
comprises data on individual accidents as collected by the Member States. This 
structure allows for maximum flexibility and potential with regard to analysing the 
information contained in the system and opens up a whole set of new possibilities 
in the field of accident analysis. 
Instead of entering into a lengthy process of defining and adopting a new 
standardized structure for a Europe-wide accident database and recognising that 
this would require considerable changes for the national administrations (such as 
the harmonization of accident reports, definitions and collection methodologies) the 
Council decided - on the basis of the proposal from the Commission - that the 
national data sets should be integrated into the CARE database in their original 
national structure and definitions, with confidential data blanked out, and that a 
framework should be designed that would make the national data sets accessible 
at the Community level (see figure 1 ). 
CARE 
Pilot Phase 1.4.1994 -1.4.1997 
RcferenGeBatabasc 
National Data 
Providers 
Figure 1: CARE - The current situation 
2.2 Initial phase 
The initial phase of CARE formally commenced on 1 April 1994. For this to 
happen, the Member States were requested to communicate their national data 
files for the years 1991 and 1992 to the Statistical Office of the European 
Communities (SOEC) before 31 March 1994. Table 1 shows the transmission 
dates of the annual national files at the time this report was drafted. 
All Member States are now sending their relevant files on a regular basis. The 
statistics for 1991 to 1995 of Austria, Finland and Sweden have also already been 
included in the CARE database. 
Table 1: Data transmitted by the Member States 
A 
B 
D 
DK 
E 
F 
FIN 
GR 
1 
IRL 
L 
NL 
P 
S 
UK(GB) 
UK(NI*) Transmission Date 
2.QU.94 
91 
91/92 
91 
91 
91 
91 
91 
91/92 
91/92 3.QU.94 
92/93 
91/92 
92 
92 4.QU.94 LQu.95 
91/92 
93 
92/93 
92/93 
91-93 
93 
93 
92 
93 2.Qu.95 
93/94 
94 
94 
93 
93 3.QU.95 
94 
94 4.QU.95 
93 
94 1.QU.96 
94 
92-93 
94 2.QU.96 
92-95 
94 
95 
95 
94 
95 
91-94 
95 3.QU.96 
91-94 
94 
94 4.Qu.96 
91 
95 
95 
95 
94 
91 
95 
95 
95 
*): Due to technical reasons Great Britain and Northern Ireland are listed separately in the statistics 
Table 2 shows the current status within CARE of the data transmitted by the 
Member States at the time this report was drafted: 
Table 2: Status of data within CARE 
A 
B 
D 
DK 
E 
F 
FIN 
GR 
1 
IRL 
L 
NL 
P 
S 
UK(GB) 
UK(NI*) 1991 
R 
RC 
r 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 1992 
RC 
RC 
r 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
Re 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 1993 
RC 
RC 
r 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
Re 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC | RC 1994 
RC 
RC 
r 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
Rx 
RC 
RC 
Re 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 1995 
RC 
R 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
RC 
Rx 
RC 
RC 
RC 
Legend : R = Data received 
r = Data sent in accordance to Regulation 1588/90 on the transmission of confidential data 
C = Data loaded into CARE 
c = Data partially loaded into CARE (pending definitive data) 
x = Data not readable 
*): Due to technical reasons Great Britain and Northern Ireland are listed separately in the statistics 
2.3 Data transmission, access and validation 
The Member States actively took part in the establishment of CARE, depending on 
their available resources. The integration of the new Member States into CARE 
went smoothly, due to their active participation. 
The transmission of the Member States' accident data is currently carried out via 
electronic media (tape or diskette) on an annual basis, with a delay of not longer 
than nine months after the end of the corresponding year. There is information on 
about 1.2 million road accidents to be annually loaded into the CARE database. 
The Member States are responsible for the quality of the national road accident 
data they provide and are requested to validate the results of the statistical 
treatment of their data after its inclusion into the CARE database. To access the 
respective national data within CARE a data Sink and dedicated software is 
required. The Member States each appoint a single institution and notify the 
Commission of its identity. Currently, the national statistical offices have been 
asked by the Member States to fill this role, the rationale behind this being that the 
data provider should also be the one to validate the data treatment within CARE, 
The process of validation (i.e. the confirmation that the information produced by the 
CARE database is identical to the results of respective queries at the national level 
with national systems) is considered essential for the reliability of CARE. 
After the validation of its "own" data in the CARE system by the appointed national 
body, the Member State grants access to its data to all the other appointed national 
bodies on a reciprocity basis. 
Table 3 shows the access levels the different Member States (MS) have reached 
within the CARE project, at the time this report was drafted: 
Table 3: Access levels of the Member States 
Data Sent 
Data loaded into CARE 
On-Line Connection 
Training 
Testing 
Validation by MS 
Access granted to other 
MS 
Reciprocal access 
installed A 
D 
• B 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D D 
•*> DK 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D E 
D 
D 
• 
D 
D 
D 
• 
D F 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
• 
D FIN 
D 
D GR 
D 
D i 
D 
D 
D IRL 
D 
D 
• 
a 
D 
D 
• 
D L 
D 
D 
a NL 
D 
D 
D 
D 
• 
D 
D 
D p 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
• s 
• 
• UK 
(GB) 
• 
D 
D 
D 
D 
D 
• 
D UK 
(NI) 
• 
• 
D 
D 
D 
D 
• 
D 
*) = in accordance with Regulation 1588/90 on the transmission of confidential data 
At the time of writing this report, ten Member States have so far been connected to 
the CARE system, mainly for the purpose of data validation, as shown in table 4. 
The new Member States are not yet listed, since they have been asked to send 
their data only in recent months and have not yet established a connection to the 
CARE database. 
Table 4: Access to CARE by the Member States for purposes of validation 
(observation period: 7 February 1995 to 12 December 1996) 
E 
UK (GB) 
NL 
P 
F 
IRL 
B 
DK 
UK (NI) 
I 
L 
GR 
D 
Sum: 
Commission No of 
connections 
abs 
530 
210 
114 
89 
91 
30 
37 
25 
6 
14 
8 
0 
0 
1154 
2203 % 
46 
18 
10 
8 
8 
3 
3 
2 
-
1 
-
-
-
100% Connection time 
h 
51 
41 
30 
15 
10 
8 
6 
4 
2 
171 
392 min 
36 
02 
16 
20 
21 
51 
39 
33 
23 
19 
22 
48 
30 sec 
54 
38 
44 
6 
58 
30 
24 
28 
54 
36 
14 
26 
06 % 
30 
24 
18 
9 
6 
5 
4 
3 
1 
-
-
100% CPU time 
h 
2 
5 
9 
119 min 
28 
46 
38 
19 
3 
10 
4 
3 
1 
37 
39 sec 
32 
15 
38 
53 
23 
22 
26 
47 
50 
11 
2 
19 
37 % 
26 
61 
6 
3 
-
2 
-
-
-
-
-
100% 
2.4 Data confidentiality and security 
The question of confidentiality boils down to whether it is possible for a user of the 
system to identify persons involved in an individual accident. Whereas the data 
loaded into the system is disaggregated down to individual accidents for each 
country, any report produced by the system for an end-user is an aggregation of 
some sort, e.g. all accidents by month and age group of casualties. As the resulting 
report contains tens, hundreds or thousands of casualties, it is therefore not 
possible to identify an individual from such a report. 
In addition, the Member States, in consultation with the Commission, blank out 
confidential data fields, i.e. any information which may readily identify an individual 
(such as vehicle number plate, name or address of person) before the data is sent 
to the Commission. If necessary, such sensitive data can still be excluded by the 
CARE database administrator. 
Nobody, other than the database administrator, can access original accident data 
records as transmitted by the Member States. Following protected processing of 
the data and under certain conditions, authorized users get access to a so-called 
reference database, which is a CARE subset containing data as agreed upon with 
the representatives of the Member States: therefore, no confidential information is 
available to users of the CARE system. 
A CARE user must have a valid user identification and a password. State-of-the-art 
encryption techniques have been applied to make unauthorized access impossible 
in practice. The procedure of asking for data is carried out in a menu-driven 
environment which does not allow a user to enter any commands other than those 
allowed by and applying to the CARE system. 
Discussions with specialists from the Member States have shown that the above 
measures guarantee the confidentiality, security and integrity of the data held in the 
CARE database. 
8 
2.4.1. Treatment of data explicitly declared as confidential 
As seen in table 3, Germany insisted upon the application of the procedure laid 
down in the Council Regulation 1588/90 on the transmission of confidential data. 
At present, discussions are under way with the German authorities in order to 
prepare for rapid integration of the German data into the CARE system. 
2.5 Heterogeneous data definitions and structures 
The data resulting from accident reports contains detailed information on the acci­
dent location, the (injured) persons and the vehicle(s) involved as well as a vast 
amount of additional information, potentially ranging from details about the pre-
crash sequence or the damage to the vehicles to the type of dangerous load 
carried. The details provided as well as the definitions and the number of variables 
all vary considerably between the Member States - a problem that was already 
identified at the project feasibility stage. 
It has been mentioned earlier that the treatment of data with such heterogeneous 
definitions and structures is a fundamental element of the correct operation of 
CARE. Therefore, a number of organisational measures at the system level have 
been made to allow for compatibility between national accident data without 
requiring any additional data treatment or adaptation by the Member States. 
Data is made compatible in three ways: 
• 
• The translation of the original variable definitions into a common language, 
namely English, makes such variables instantly comparable, like "month = 
January", "day = Sunday" etc. 
For some variables compatibility is achieved through the application of simple 
mathematical rules: the age of a driver will either result from the age field, like 
"age of driver = 31", or from the field containing the driver's date of birth, like 
"date of birth = 1965.10.05". 
The "harmonization" of other variables, such as the different national values for 
"light conditions" or "road conditions" is a far more complex problem. The 
feasibility of "harmonizing" heterogeneous data has been demonstrated by a 
consortium of partners from six different Member States, the project being called 
CARE PLUS. The major objective was to set up, by the end of 1996, structural 
transformation rules for important variables, with their number initially being 
limited to 28. in addition, a second objective is to compile a dictionary of the 
definitions of variables and parameters used in the 15 Member States' national 
files. 
The Commission's intention is not to propose changes to the definitions of the 
Member States' databases but rather to provide a framework of transformation 
rules to be implemented in the CARE database with a view to increasing data 
compatibility and thus enhancing the functioning of the system. Nonetheless, the 
outcome of the above efforts will be a set of common variables which could serve 
as a reference for future adaptions at the national level if a Member State so 
wishes. 
2.6 Results and conclusions from the first three years 
2.6.1 Database in operation 
The pilot phase of CARE started on 1 April 1994. Within a relatively short 
timescale, considering the task's complexity, the basic principles have been agreed 
upon and the technical problems concerning the operation of such a complex 
system consisting of many different databases have been solved. 
2.6.2 Data homogeneity 
The process of "harmonization", i.e. the setting up of transformation rules between 
the different Member States' databases, based on the methodology as provided by 
the CARE PLUS group, is advancing in a promising way. 
2.6.3 Data availability 
Today for the first time valuable reports have been made feasible through CARE 
that no other database could provide. As an example, Annex II features - amongst 
others - a comparison of the involvement of different age groups in road accidents 
at the Community level - an analysis made possible only through the computation 
of national disaggregated accident data. 
2.6.4 Data confidentiality and security 
A high-level standard of data confidentiality and security has been an integral part 
of the system design from the very beginning. Although CARE contains national 
data at a very detailed level, it is impossible for any user to identify individual 
persons through the CARE database. 
2.6.5 Cooperation with the Member States 
Close cooperation with the CARE Governmental Experts Group plays a valuable 
part in the process of developing CARE, the role of the national data providers 
being essential to its current and future operation as regards the validation of data, 
i.e. confirmation that information produced by the CARE system accurately reflects 
the figures retrieved from national databases and as regards the permission to 
open the relevant annual data to other users on a reciprocity basis. 
2.6.6 Data quality 
The contents of CARE directly reflect the national databases' contents. The 
quality of any analysis is thus directly dependent on the quality of the 
underlying national accident data, which itself is highly dependent on the 
national data collection methodology. It is known that the extent of 
underreporting of accidents not only varies between the Member States but 
also depends on accident severity. While fatal accidents are widely covered, 
the same is not true for injury-only accidents. Moreover, a wide interpretation 
of certain variables occurs, for example "accident severity = unknown". 
Accident causes, where reported, are rather subjective and - if used at all -
must be processed with utmost care. Furthermore, the national data shows a 
certain degree of incompleteness, mainly depending on the accident severity. 
10 
2.6.7 Data complexity 
A user-friendly system has been developed which makes the production of flexible 
aggregated reports based on disaggregated accident data a straightforward task. 
However, the possibility of false interpretations of what the system provides does 
exist, especially if users are not experts in processing road safety databases. 
Users of the CARE database should thus have a certain knowledge of the system 
architecture as well as of the heterogenous data structures CARE is built upon. A 
thorough training for the statistical experts dealing with the CARE database is 
necessary to ensure that credible results are obtained from CARE. 
2.6.8 Publications 
In agreement with the Member States, which supply the data, the Commission 
and the Member States have agreed not to circulate the statistics resulting from 
CARE during the pilot phase of the project. 
11 
3. The future prospects 
3.1 Towards an advanced Information System 
The process of improving the "homogenization" of accident data within the CARE 
system should be further continued, as outlined in chapter 2.5. The Member States' 
support and cooperation will play a vital part in this process which - as a first step -
will lead to a high degree of compatibility of the underlying accident data. 
In this respect the inherent incomparability of national accident data still remains 
the main source of possible misinterpretation when performing comparative 
analyses at the international level and thus must be considered as a priority to be 
tackled in the development of any future system. 
In this context, additional information should be made available to supplement 
CARE in order to enable sound comparisons to be made on the basis of 
Community accident data and thereby improve the potential for road accident 
analysis at the Community level. Additional information could include: 
• exposure data, such as 
vehicle - kms 
vehicle fleet 
passenger - kms 
population 
road network characteristics etc. 
• results of in-depth studies on accident and injury causation 
• road safety measures: relevant national legislation, level of enforcement, 
results of efficiency studies on different measures and actions,... 
• etc. 
Such additional information would finally lead to an Information System (see figure 
2), comprising an information pool derived from various data sources which would 
be treated as additional files and should be linked to the accident database, 
forming the basis for system. In addition, a comprehensive glossary would be made 
available, providing definitions of national variables, transformation rules and other 
textual information that plays an essential role in comparative research. 
The development of such a Road Safety Information System would enable great 
improvements to be made in areas such as accident data quality and availability. 
Problems such as underreporting cannot be settled in the short term, but by 
assessing the extent of the problem and incorporating this dimension in CARE 
such issues can analytically and systematically be taken into account in the 
system. The same applies to the availability and the differing assessment methods 
for exposure data and other information. 
12 
The CARE Road Safety 
Information System 
National Data 
Providers 
& 
Authorized 
Users «v 
(Authorized \ 
Users * Expert 
Users All 
Users 
T 
Figure 2: The CARE Road Safety Information System 
3.2 Policy on use and dissemination of information 
The high level of data confidentiality and security as implemented in the current 
system, i.e. the inaccessability of individual data together with the application of 
elaborate access procedures, will remain central to the CARE concept. 
The procedures for granting access to CARE and the ways of disseminating 
information need to be considered very thoroughly: forming queries within CARE is 
straightforward, but asking the right questions is a complex task and inherently 
poses a potential for misinterpretation: Well-trained personnel with a thorough 
knowledge of national data structures and definitions will certainly be required to 
work at the most detailed level of CARE data. 
13 
The accessibility criteria of the future Road Safety Information System as well as 
the type and content of information presented will be a major factor determining the 
degree of its use. A self-contained system available to the Member States' 
administrative departments only would limit its potential for the road safety work of 
the Community, whereas a well-designed system presenting useful and varying 
degrees of information to a larger group of users - with different levels of 
authorization - would create a new basis for the improvement of road safety on 
European roads. 
Whatever the system, and having regard to the recitals of Council 
Decision 93/704/EC of 30 November 1993 data relating to identifiable persons will 
be treated in accordance with the data protection legislation in force. 
Information circulation policy should aim to reach the greatest possible number of 
users under the best possible conditions, but without prejudice to the existing 
financing sources of national data suppliers. 
3.2.1 Online access to the Reference Database 
Currently, the Member States' data providers are the only bodies entitled to access 
the CARE Reference Database, containing accident data at the most detailed 
level. However, their potential interest in the use of international data may be 
limited. Therefore, consideration should be given to extending access, e.g. to one 
institution per Member State concerned with road safety, to make the best use of 
the CARE Reference Database. The national data provider should play a valuable 
part in the process for the validation of the national data within CARE, unless the 
Member State chose to delegate this task to the additional institution it has 
appointed. Under certain conditions accident reports could then be provided to 
other users by the authorized institutions. 
3.2.2 Online access to the Dissemination Database 
A subset of the CARE Reference Database, comprising disaggregated data with a 
high degree of comparability, as agreed upon with the Member States, could be 
created in order to provide wider access to the road safety community. An 
appropriate knowledge will still be required for the correct utilization of this so-
called Dissemination Database, but thorough training in data definitions and 
structures will not be necessary. Thus this part of the CARE Information System 
will serve as a flexible interface to a range of expert users whose demands vary 
with the current research tasks and whose needs are not sufficiently catered for by 
international statistics reports today. 
As a first step, the Dissemination Database could contain information on fatal 
accidents only, which simultaneously would ensure both a high quality and a high 
rate of availability of the underlying data. In addition, the amount of data to be 
handled would be just a fraction of the original Community accident data as 
represented in the reference database. In this way response times would be 
reduced, an advantage which would be much appreciated by users. 
3.2.3 Access to standard tables within the CARE Information System 
A variety of periodically updated standard tables - as agreed upon with the Member 
States - could be set up and made accessible on-line. An interactive user interface 
14 
would guide the user through the information available to provide for 
straightforward results. Large access to this part of the system would be granted to 
all users of the CARE Information System. 
15 
3.2.4 Publications 
Periodical publications of standard tables will serve as an essential means of 
providing efficient and widespread use of CARE, in the classical form of printouts, 
electronic media like Internet and CD-ROMs or the usual channels used by 
EUROSTAT. Such standard aggregated statistics with contents previously agreed 
upon with the Member States will aim to meet the demands of the majority of the 
users whilst maintaining certain quality criteria. Such tables could also be provided 
to other organisations such as the United Nations Economic Commission for 
Europe (UNECE) or the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) in 
the framework of the cooperation agreement with these international organisations. 
3.3 General aspects of the future development of CARE 
The variety of services of the future CARE Information System will provide a new 
approach to Community accident data analysis, tailor-made for the different 
demands of different user groups, ranging from scientific research tasks in the road 
safety area to general reports. 
Moreover, the CARE Information System will not only be a useful tool for accident 
analysis. It will also facilitate the exchange of information in the area of road safety 
and therefore serve as a platform for advisory bodies, institutions and authorities 
as well as industrial partners and associations concerned with road safety, at local, 
regional, national or Community level. The Community Transport Policy will also 
benefit from the tools featured in the CARE Information System. 
Since Council Decision 93/704/EC is part of the provisions included in the 
Agreement on the European Economic Area, the incorporation of the statistical 
files for Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway will eventually need to be envisaged, as 
it was included in the EEA Agreement by Decision 7/94 of the Joint Committee of 
21 March 1994. 
16 
4. Conclusion 
Based on the experience gathered during the implementation of the Council 
Decision, i.e. the setting up of the CARE database, it can be concluded that the 
results of the pilot phase have been positive, as outlined in chapter 2. 
The future prospects of the CARE database, as outlined in chapter 3, and, in 
particular, its evolution into a Road Safety Information System are very promising 
for the road safety community and reflect the concerns and objectives underlying 
the Council Decision of 30 November 1993. 
Cooperation with the Member States, especially through the CARE Governmental 
Expert Group, should be continued and reinforced, as it plays a vital part in the 
management of the Community database and the quality of the data therein as well 
as in the development of a policy as regards user access and dissemination of the 
data derived from CARE. 
The Commission will periodically report on the progress of the CARE Information 
System to the High Level Group of representatives of the Member States on road 
safety. 
17 

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COM(97) 238 final 
DOCUMENTS 
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Catalogue number : CB-CO-97-230-EN-C 
ISBN 92-78-19855-2 
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