WABA Launches Crash Tracking Tool
March 30th, 2011 | 
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Last month we attended the DC Council oversight hearing on pedestrian and bicycle enforcement, and needless to say, we learned a lot. But what stood out for us was that there was so much more that we needed to know–about how and where bike crashes happened in the region and more detailed information about the circumstances both during and after the crash.
So we’ve developed a crash report form that will enable us to gather and collate crash data that either isn’t captured by official methods or is difficult for WABA–as an outside organization–to obtain. But we still can’t get anywhere without your help.
If you’ve been in a bicycle crash with a motor vehicle in the past five years (any time on or after January 1, 2006), please consider taking a few moments and filling out our crash report form. We need this data to make a case for better laws and more effective traffic enforcement in the region, and we need to be prepared with facts and data. Please help us out.
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This looks like a great effort and will hopefully lead to data that may be used to improve biking conditions in the District. But could you please clarify whether you are also looking for non-vehicular crashes, e.g. caused by poor road conditions pedestrian conflicts, etc.
Matt, We're currently focusing on crashes resulting from interactions with motor vehicles, as we have some ongoing advocacy efforts on that front. That was our reason for phrasing some of the questions as we did. That said, we welcome cyclists to use it for any type of crash and let us know where the format or content needs to be changed to allow you to provide the information we need to hear and use to improve conditions.
Do you know of this page? http://www.bikewise.org/ They are doing something similar. I reported a theft there a while ago & have saved the bookmark for this sort of thing. There are several DC area crashes reported there. Maybe you can cross link?
Thanks Nicolle. We have seen Bikewise and think it's great. We also looked at CrowdMap as an option and regularly follow Struck in DC. But we eventually decided that some of the map-based options weren't quite what we were looking for, as we are seeking information that's as much related to the enforcement response and the legal follow-up as the accident itself. Balancing the need for confidentiality on these post-accident issues with the need to integrate into our existing systems, we think this is the best tool for this particular job. There are likely better tools out there for aggregating and and mapping crashes, thefts, etc. quickly. But for now, our goal is to empower our advocacy by gaining more information not only about the crash, but about the follow-up of the authorities and the justice system.
On Monday January 20, 2009 at approximately 7:20pm, while coming home from work in traffic due to the Presidential inauguration traffic, I was doored on L Street, NW between 12th and 11th street. A man stepped out of his vehicle on rear passenger side hitting me and my bike while I was already within his window's sight. This incident was not reported to the police; no injuries or damage. On Friday January 15th at approximately 9:30pm, while riding around Washington circle at GW Hospital, while I was within the circle a gentleman hit me from behind and damaged my rear wheel. Also some bruises on my right shoulder resulted from this. 911 was called, but the police never showed only the EMT. I was fine and was able to report this incident to the driver's insurance company to cover my costs. A total of $875 was paid.