The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Virginia Highway Safety Office (VAHSO) and Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) collaborate to collect, preserve and provide access to crash data collected in Virginia. There are several options for accessing crash data.
The Traffic Records Management, Reporting and Analysis Division of VAHSO manages an information system called Traffic Records Electronic Data System (TREDS), which houses millions of traffic crash records,
TREDS automates and centralizes crash information from across the state and makes it accessible for problem identification and resolution by local, state and federal entities across the Commonwealth. Authorized users from local, state and federal agencies can request a TREDS user name/password by contacting: TREDS.SAVESLIVES@DMV.Virginia.Gov
Researchers and members of the public can query the TREDS database or visualize traffic crash data several different ways:
In addition, approved users can request Virginia crash data free of charge in through a "shapefile" availble from the through the Smarterroads.org database, which is managed by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The shapefile (a vector data format for Geographic Information Systems software, developed by vendor Esri as an open specification for data interoperability among GIS software systems) does not contain personally identifiable information, but it does contain data on individual crashes.
In addition to aggregated traffic crash "data" anyone may request a Police Crash Report for a specific crash from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for a fee of $8.000. DMV maintains an official record of all reportable crashes occurring within the Commonwealth.
Finally, this VDOT Crash Analysis Tool has been developed in-house by the VDOT Highway Safety section for crash analysis purposes. The source data is owned and maintained by DMV and it is accessible to users on or off the VDOT network, however, public users are required to install the latest version of Tableau Reader.
Got a question about TREDS? Ask DMV at: https://www.treds.virginia.gov/UI/Contactus/Contactus.aspx
