Research Papers (2009 – 2013)

Abstract

Each Canadian province and territory has laws requiring the reporting of vehicle collisions to enforcement agencies when there has been an injury, fatality or property damage of a specified extent. In most jurisdictions, including New Brunswick, the reporting threshold for Property Damage Only (PDO) collisions is $1,000 in total collision damage; however, the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) recently endorsed moving to a $2,000 reporting threshold for inclusion of PDO collisions in the National Collision Database. The collision reporting threshold was last adjusted in New Brunswick in 1993 (up from $400 in place since 1980). This paper explored the impact of the static $1000 reporting threshold on the inclusion of collisions in the New Brunswick collision database from 1994 – 2008 in terms of current and constant (1994) dollars, as well as implications for the availability of collision data in moving to a $2,000 or $4,000 threshold. Recommendations include developing uniform, objective criteria for assessing PDO collision severity.

Trevor R. Hanson, James S. Christie, Eric D. Hildebrand