Data quality management related to road infrastructure condition and safety

When doing safety and accident studies related to road surface characteristics the quality of the used data are of extreme importance. The definition, the techniques and strategy of collection of both condition as accident data can differ a lot between and within countries. An example of such confusion is the data considering pavement friction and skid resistance. In Europe currently more than 15 measuring devices for skid resistance are covered in the CEN standards. The availability of enough friction is the most essential road characteristic for safety issues. Other examples is the use of expressions of road condition such as rut depth. No standard exist and different calculations are used implying that they need careful consideration before exchange of accident analysis results are done. Most road surface indicators are developed for indication of road wear, not accident analysis. The Road Administration in Sweden have paid attention to this and made a number of actions to improve the quality of data. There are many quality aspects on data and data collection such as reliability, robustness, suitability for the purpose (relevant), performance, safe to collect, easy to maintain and costs. This presentation will present some actions and quality improvements for data and data collection that has been done in Sweden.