Highway Safety Information System (HSIS)
What is HSIS?
The HSIS is a multistate database that contains crash, roadway inventory, and traffic volume data for a select group of States. Download the HSIS brochure (PDF, 590 KB) to learn more.
2024 Excellence in Highway Safety Data Award Winner
Congratulations to Harsha Gattupalli, Francisca Kasubi, Odilo Mdimi, Enock Mwambeleko, HM Nayem, Hellen Shita, and Cesar Andriola for winning the 2024 HSIS Data Contest. The link to the winning paper, Deciphering Seasonal Weather Impacts on Crash Severity: A Machine Learning Approach, is available online.
Thank you to all who participated in the contest this year. Your research and ambition impressed those involved throughout the process. We look forward to your involvement in future HSIS data contests.
Learn More about HSIS, Safety Data, and the Excellence in Highway Safety Data Award
Are you a student interested in learning more about how safety data is used to make real world decisions and applications? Are you an educator in need of ideas to communicate the concepts of transportation safety data and analysis?
The Excellence in Highway Safety Data Award is an annual data contest that is open to students enrolled in college-level courses – that includes undergraduate university programs, community colleges, and graduate school programs!
If you are a student and are interested in participating in the HSIS contest using safety data, visit FHWA’s tutorial on YouTube to get started. This video introduces HSIS, data-driven safety analysis, and the Excellence in Highway Safety Data Award.
See the HSIS data contest website for details about the contest.
To request data, you must create an account to place your request. The first bullet has the link to sign up and the second bullet includes instructions on how to sign up.
- HSIS Data Request:
https://securedatacommons.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/user/login?destination=portals - How to sign up for the USDOT-SDC Service Desk:
https://securedatacommons.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DESK/pages/2004189187/How-To+Sign+up+for+the+Service+Desk
HSIS data are used in a wide variety of research efforts. Products of these efforts include HSIS summaries, research reports, safety analysis tools, and published articles and technical papers in professional journals.
HSIS is a roadway based system that provides quality data on a large number of accident, roadway, and traffic variables. It uses data being collected by states for managing the highway system and studying highway safety.
There are numerous organizations and other entities in the United States that are working to make our roads safer. Links are provided to the web sites of these groups as well as links to additional sources of crash data.
The participating States were selected based on the quality and quantity of data available, and their ability to merge data from various files.
| California | Illinois | Maine | Michigan | Minnesota |
| Charlotte, NC | North Carolina | Ohio | Utah | Washington |
Realistic Artificial Datasets
The Exploratory Advanced Research Program developed realistic artificial datasets (RADs) so State and local agencies can further research in safety data, high-risk roadway features, and effects of proposed safety measures. Data-driven safety analysis models coupled with RADs can test different cause-and-effect relationships.
Updated Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool (PBCAT) Now Available
Pedestrians, bicyclists, and other non motorist road users account for a growing share of all US traffic fatalities in recent decades. The Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool version 3.0 (PBCAT v3) is an update to previous PBCAT applications to help road safety professionals improve their understanding of non motorist crashes. The application allows users to categorize their non motorist crashes and create a data set for analysis. PBCAT v3 works with most modern internet browsers and is free of charge to use.
Learn More
New Data Available
HSIS now has data available for all agencies through 2020, and some agencies are available through 2021. Data formats include GIS, as well as tabular datasets. Please check back regularly for recent updates to the HSIS data system.
FHWA recently completed two research studies that resulted in unique databases that may be utilized by other researchers for investigate additional safety issues.
Motorcycle Crash Causation
The Motorcycle Crash Causation database includes motorcycle crash data from 351 intensive post crash investigations and observations and interviews for 702 paired control cases. All data were collected in Orange County, California from 2011 to 2016.
Roadway Lighting
The Roadway Lighting database includes data collected as part of the project “Strategic Initiative for Evaluation of Reduced Lighting on Roadways” (FHWA Project DTFH61-13-D-00018). As part of the FHWA project, in situ lighting performance data were acquired on sample roadways in seven states including California, Delaware, Minnesota, North Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
For more information or to request either of these databases, please contact Carol Tan, Safety Data and Analysis Team Leader, at carol.tan@dot.gov.