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Attorney Nicholas G. Farha

Examining motor vehicle accidents in Oklahoma

On Behalf of | Feb 16, 2023 | Auto Accidents

If you are a resident of Oklahoma and you travel the roads on a regular basis, you must have encountered many accidents over the years as you were traveling back and forth from place to place. Motor vehicle accidents happen for many different reasons. Some of them can be prevented and others cannot. It is important that you and all of the other drivers on Oklahoma roads operate your vehicles with safety in mind before anything else.

The Oklahoma Highway Safety Office provides publications and problem identification data that includes thorough analyses of crash numbers, locations and rates. The crash data that OHSO comes up with is vital because highway safety professionals throughout the state use it to analyze where the traffic is safest and should be given top consideration and come up with possible solutions to the traffic problems.

What are OHSO’s sources for traffic data?

The OHSO uses the following sources to come up with the vital data that many other people rely upon:

  • Motor vehicle crash reports and data from police citations
  • Records from driver’s licenses
  • Motor vehicle registration records
  • Reports from breath test analyses
  • Surveys on attitudes and awareness
  • Surveys on protecting occupants
  • Fatality analyses
  • Crash rates from the Department of Transportation

From the OHSO’s perspective, it considers collaborating with the other agencies with which it partners a top priority. It accomplishes this by using the data sources to inform highway safety planning and program development.

Which surveys are used to derive data?

OHSO develops a number of surveys on an annual basis to determine the use of safety measures across Oklahoma. Some of those surveys are the Attitude and Awareness Survey, Seat Belt Survey and the Child Restraint Survey. Additionally, OHSO also developed the Quick Fact, which provides information on various performance measures, with data over the last few years that show trends and patterns. It also has data of fatalities from accidents that occurred as a result of drug and/or alcohol use.

The data are broken down by vehicle type, specific crashes, motorcycles, specific types of vehicles, accidents that occurred because of distracted driving, occupant protection, drivers, non-motorists, alcohol/drugs, speed, holidays, historical data and a comprehensive summary.

Advice from an Oklahoma personal injury lawyer

If you have been in an accident on one of Oklahoma’s roads and the accident occurred as a result of another driver’s negligence, contacting a personal injury lawyer with may be a really smart move. Having someone on your side with the experience to help you get what you need and what you deserve can really turn your case around and can give you hope for the future. The lawyer can walk you through the process and help you to protect your rights at the same time.