Comprehensive information about the circumstances and outcomes of road traffic crashes is vital to underpin the development of road safety policy and traffic safety interventions aimed at reducing the high burden of road crashes in New South Wales (NSW). Information on the number and incidence of road traffic crashes in NSW can be obtained from a number of administrative data collections, including police-reported crashes, the Motor Accidents Authority (MAA) third party claims database and the Lifetime Care and Support Authority (LTCSA) claims data. However, none of these data collections alone can supply all the information needed to provide a comprehensive description of road trauma in NSW.
Descriptive information on the crash circumstances involving different road users and different types of injuries can be useful to examine crash characteristics, monitor injury outcomes and costs associated with injuries, particularly severe injuries. Three of the most frequent and/or costly injuries that result from road traffic crashes in NSW are whiplash neck injuries, head injuries, and spinal injuries.
By linking information recorded on road trauma from police reports, third party compensation claims, mortality data, hospital admission and emergency department presentations and conducting a retrospective analysis of these multiple linked data collections, 2 research reports for the New South Wales (NSW) government examined: (i) linkage rates for each road user category and factors associated with the probability of record linkage; and (ii) trends of serious non-fatal injury by road user category over time, especially focussing on whiplash injuries and catastrophic injury cases such as brain injury and spinal cord injury.

1. Bambach, M. Mitchell R. Williamson A. Grzebieta R. (2013) Analysis of the road crash characteristics of specific road user groups and injury modes.  Transport and Road Safety Research, University of NSW: Sydney.
2. Bambach, M. Mitchell R. Williamson A. Grzebieta R. (2013) Linkage rates and identification of factors associated with the probability of record linkage with MAA and LTCSA.  Transport and Road Safety Research, University of NSW: Sydney.