Introduction
The Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) consists of data collected and maintained by the California Highway Patrol (CHP). SWITRS contains all crashes that were reported to CHP by local and governmental agencies. For more information regarding SWITRS or for detailed summaries by year, please visit the CHP website. You can also download complete datasets and request statistical reports via the I-SWITRS Website provided by CHP.
If you are interested in SWITRS crash rankings of cities or counties without investigating the actual datasets, the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) has an excellent resource at: OTS Crash Rankings. Their site allows you to choose a county or city and see crash rankings by total count, vehicle miles travelled, or by average population.
Final vs Provisional
We determine the dataset is final when we process the data after CHP announces the report of the specific year. CHP hasn't released the 2022 SWITRS Annual Report on CHP SWITRS website yet so we say provisional for 2022 and later datasets.
Working with the relational database structure
The data have a hierarchical structure.
- The
CRASH
table contains information on each crash, one line per crash. - The
PARTY
table contains information from all parties involved in the crash, one line per party. Parties are the major players in a traffic crash - drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and parked vehicles. The information includes personal descriptors and vehicle descriptors. - The
VICTIM
table contains information about the victims - persons associated with each party. For example, a motorcyclist and his passenger are each a victim. Injury severity is included in theVICTIM
table.
The victims can be thought of as being nested within parties and parties can be thought of as being nested within crashes. Another way to conceptualize the data is to use the entity-relationship model common in relational database management systems. In this data model, CRASH
, PARTY
, and VICTIM
are entities that have very specific relationships to each other. CRASH
is a “strong” or “parent” entity because it can exist on its own. PARTY
is a “weak” or “child” entity, because it logically depends on an instance of CRASH
. In other words, a driver cannot be a party in a crash unless the crash exists and is in the crash table. Likewise, VICTIM
is a weak entity, because it depends on PARTY
for its existence.
The figure shows an example database with CRASH
, PARTY
, and VICTIM
tables.
The database is tiny – it only contains information on 2 crashes. CRASH
has 3 variables: CASE ID
,
DAY OF WEEK
, and COUNTY
.
PARTY
has 4 variables: CASE ID
, PARTY NUMBER
, PARTY AGE
, and VEHICLE MAKER
.
VICTIM
has 7 variables: CASE ID
, PARTY NUMBER
, VICTIM GENDER
, VICTIM AGE
, VICTIM ROLE
, VICTIM SEATING POSITION
, and VICTIM SAFETY EQUIPMENT
.
The relationships between each pair of tables are represented below. It is important to understand the relationships when merging tables.
The rectangles represent data tables; the arrows and accompanying text describe the relationship.
In the CRASH
- PARTY
relationship, the records are linked with the CASE ID
variable and any number of PARTY
records can be associated with a crash.
The PARTY
- VICTIM
relationship tells us that the linkage require two variables,
CASE ID
and PARTY NUMBER
and that any number of victims can be associated with a party.
An important aspect of the relationship between the PARTY
and VICTIM
tables is that some parties (i.e., drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians) will also appear in the VICTIM
table.
Injured parties will appear in the VICTIM
table; uninjured parties will not.
A common way to work with data of this structure is to create a PARTY
table or a VICTIM
table that has data from all its parents joined to each row.
For example, if you plan to do analyses at the victim-level, you can start with a VICTIM
table and join in
values from corresponding PARTY
and CRASH
tables. In the figure, the CRASH
variables and the PARTY
variables are joined to the VICTIM
table.
Doing so provides a victim-level table that can be summarized (for example, count or sums can be generated),
while considering PARTY
or CRASH
variables.
You must keep in mind that the PARTY
and CRASH
variable will repeat for as many victims as there are.
Codebook
The SWITRS codebook provides a complete description of all the fields including the variable name and all possible values for the field.
If you want to download a Microsoft Word version of the codebook, please click here.
Last Update: 11/16/2022
New Level of Victim Degree of Injury New
CHP has added three additional classifications of injury status based on the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC) 5th Edition released in 2017. The MMUCC is a standardized method for reporting traffic crashes and the vehicles, persons, and environment involved.
New Victim Degree of Injury | Old Definition of Victim Degree of Injury |
---|---|
5 - Suspected Serious Injury | 2 - Severe Injury |
6 - Suspected Minor Injury | 3 - Other Visible Injury |
7 - Possible Injury | 4 - Complaint of Pain |
For the purpose of analysis across multiple years with old definition (2, 3, and 4), we combined injury status categories using the latest definitions (5, 6 and 7); i.e., all victims coded as "Severe Injury" or "Suspected Serious Injury" are shown as "Suspected Serious Injury" in our tools.
Crash Level
Item Name | Variable Name | Description | Values |
---|---|---|---|
Case Id | CASE_ID | the unique identifier of the crash report (barcode beginning 2002; 19 digit code prior to 2002) | |
Crash Year | ACCIDENT_YEAR | the year when the crash occurred | |
Processing Date | PROC_DATE | Date the record was processed | |
Jurisdiction | JURIS | Jurisdiction | |
Crash Date | COLLISION_DATE | the date when the crash occurred | |
Crash Time | COLLISION_TIME | the time when the crash occurred (24 hour time) | Data may appear with no leading zero(s). |
Officer Id | OFFICER_ID | ||
Reporting District | REPORTING_DISTRICT | ||
Day of Week | DAY_OF_WEEK | the code for the day of the week when the crash occurred |
|
CHP Shift | CHP_SHIFT |
|
|
Population | POPULATION |
|
|
County City Location | CNTY_CITY_LOC | the location code of where the crash occurred | Data may appear with no leading zero. |
Special Condition | SPECIAL_COND |
|
|
Beat Type | BEAT_TYPE |
|
|
CHP Beat Type | CHP_BEAT_TYPE |
|
|
City Division LAPD | CITY_DIVISION_LAPD | Includes blanks and dashes as not stated. | |
CHP Beat Class | CHP_BEAT_CLASS |
|
|
Beat Number | BEAT_NUMBER | ||
Primary Rd | PRIMARY_RD | The road the crash occurred on | |
Secondary Rd | SECONDARY_RD | A secondary reference road that DISTANCE and DIRECT are measured from | |
Distance | DISTANCE | Offset distance from secondary road | distance converted to feet |
Direction | DIRECTION | Direction of offset distance |
|
Intersection | INTERSECTION | Indicates where a crash occurred at an intersection |
|
Weather 1 | WEATHER_1 | the weather condition at the time of the crash |
|
Weather 2 | WEATHER2 | the weather condition at the time of the crash, if a second description is necessary | same as weather 1 above |
State Highway Indicator | STATE_HWY_IND | Indicates whether a crash occurred on a state highway |
|
Caltrans County | CALTRANS_COUNTY | Includes blanks and nulls | |
Caltrans District | CALTRANS_DISTRICT | ||
State Route | STATE_ROUTE | 0 - Not State Highway | |
Route Suffix | ROUTE_SUFFIX | ||
Postmile Prefix | POSTMILE_PREFIX | ||
Postmile | POSTMILE | ||
Location Type | LOCATION_TYPE |
|
|
Ramp Intersection | RAMP_INTERSECTION |
|
|
Side Of Highway | SIDE_OF_HWY | Code provided by Caltrans Coders; applies to divided highway, based on nominal direction of route; for single vehicle is same as nominal direction of travel, overruled by impact with second vehicle after crossing median |
|
Tow Away | TOW_AWAY |
|
|
Crash Severity | COLLISION_SEVERITY | the injury level severity of the crash (highest level of injury in crash) |
|
Killed victims | NUMBER_KILLED | counts victims in the crash with degree of injury of 1 | 0 to N for each crash |
Injured victims | NUMBER_INJURED | counts victims in the crash with degree of injury of 2, 3, or 4 | 0 to N for each crash |
Party Count | PARTY_COUNT | counts total parties in the crash | 1 to N for each crash |
Primary Crash Factor | PRIMARY_COLL_FACTOR |
|
|
PCF Violation Code | PCF_CODE_OF_VIOL |
|
|
PCF Violation Category | PCF_VIOL_CATEGORY |
|
|
PCF Violation | PCF_VIOLATION | Corresponds to violcat categories and described in California Legislative Information website - (http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/vc.htm) | |
PCF Violation Subsection | PCF_VIOL_SUBSECTION | Blank if no subsection. | |
Hit And Run | HIT_AND_RUN |
|
|
Type of Crash | TYPE_OF_COLLISION |
|
|
Motor Vehicle Involved With | MVIW |
|
|
Ped Action | PED_ACTION |
|
|
Road Surface | ROAD_SURFACE |
|
|
Road Condition 1 | ROAD_COND_1 |
|
|
Road Condition 2 | ROAD_COND_2 | same as road condition 1 above | |
Lighting | LIGHTING |
|
|
Control Device | CONTROL_DEVICE |
|
|
CHP RoadType | CHP_ROAD_TYPE | May be blank | |
Pedestrian Crash | PEDESTRIAN_ACCIDENT | indicates whether the crash involved a pedestrian | Y or blank |
Bicycle Crash | BICYCLE_ACCIDENT | indicates whether the crash involved a bicycle | Y or blank |
Motorcycle Crash | MOTORCYCLE_ACCIDENT | indicates whether the crash involved a motorcycle | Y or blank |
Truck Crash | TRUCK_ACCIDENT | indicates whether the crash involved a big truck | Y or blank |
Not Private Property | NOT_PRIVATE_PROPERTY | indicates whether the crash occurred on private property | Y or blank |
Alcohol Involved | ALCOHOL_INVOLVED | indicates whether the crash involved a party that had been drinking | Y or blank |
Statewide Vehicle Type At Fault | STWD_VEHTYPE_AT_FAULT | indicates the Statewide Vehicle Type of the party who is at fault | see Party folder Statewide Vehicle Type item |
CHP Vehicle Type At Fault | CHP_VEHTYPE_AT_FAULT | indicates the CHP Vehicle Type of the party who is at fault | see Party folder CHP Vehicle Type Towing item |
Severe Injury count | COUNT_SEVERE_INJ | counts victims in the crash with degree of injury of 2 | 0 to N for each crash |
Other Visible Injury count | COUNT_VISIBLE_INJ | counts victims in the crash with degree of injury of 3 | 0 to N for each crash |
Complaint of Pain Injury count | COUNT_COMPLAINT_PAIN | counts victims in the crash with degree of injury of 4 | 0 to N for each crash |
Pedestrian Killed count | COUNT_PED_KILLED | Counts the victims in the crash with party type of 2 and degree of injury is 1 | 0 or 1 for each crash |
Pedestrian Injured count | COUNT_PED_INJURED | Counts the victims in the crash with party type of 2 and degree of injury is 2, 3, or 4 | 0 or 1 for each crash |
Bicyclist Killed count | COUNT_BICYCLIST_KILLED | Counts the victims in the crash with (((victim role of 2 and statewide vehicle type of 'L') or (victim role of 4)) and (victim degree of injury is 1)) | 0 to N for each crash |
Bicyclist Injured count | COUNT_BICYCLIST_INJURED | Counts the victims in the crash with (((victim role of 2 and statewide vehicle type of 'L') or (victim role of 4)) and (victim degree of injury is 2, 3, or 4)) | 0 to N for each crash |
Motorcyclist Killed count | COUNT_MC_KILLED | counts victims in the crash with statewide vehicle type of C or O and degree of injury of 1 | 0 to N for each crash |
Motorcyclist Injured count | COUNT_MC_INJURED | counts victims in the crash with statewide vehicle type of C or O and degree of injury of 2, 3, or 4 | 0 to N for each crash |
Primary Ramp | PRIMARY_RAMP |
|
|
Secondary Ramp | SECONDARY_RAMP | Same as above | |
CHP generated GPS latitude coordinate | LATITUDE | The latitude of the GPS position | |
CHP generated GPS longitude coordinate | LONGITUDE | The longitude of the GPS position | |
X Coordinate Location | POINT_X | The longitude of the geocoded location; uses the World Geodetic System from 1984 (WGS84). | |
Y Coordinate Location | POINT_Y | The latitude of the geocoded location; uses the World Geodetic System from 1984 (WGS84). | |
City | CITY | ||
County | COUNTY |
Party Level
Item Name | Variable Name | Description | Values |
---|---|---|---|
Case Id | CASE_ID | the unique identifier of the crash report (barcode beginning 2002; 19 digit code prior to 2002) | |
Party Number | PARTY_NUMBER | A number that together with the CASE_ID uniquely identifies a party in a crash | 1 to 999 |
Party Type | PARTY_TYPE | Involved party type |
|
At Fault | AT_FAULT | indicates whether the party was at fault in the crash |
|
Party Sex | PARTY_SEX | the code of the sex of the party |
|
Party Age | PARTY_AGE | The age of the party at the time of the crash | 0 to 125+ (998=UNKNOWN) |
Party Sobriety | PARTY_SOBRIETY | The state of sobriety of the party |
|
Party Drug Physical | PARTY_DRUG_PHYSICAL | The state of the party with regard to drugs and physical condition |
|
Direction Of Travel | DIR_OF_TRAVEL |
|
|
Party Safety Equipment 1 | PARTY_SAFETY_EQUIP_1 |
|
|
Party Safety Equipment 2 | PARTY_SAFETY_EQUIP_2 | same as Party Safety Equipment 1 above | |
Financial Responsibility | FINAN_RESPONS |
|
|
Special Information 1 | SP_INFO_1 |
|
|
Special Information 2 | SP_INFO_2 | CHP555 was revised July 2003 to reflect codes 1,2, & 3. However, crash forms prior to July 2003 will continue to be processed after that date. |
|
Special Information 3 | SP_INFO_3 |
|
|
OAF Violation Code | OAF_VIOLATION_CODE |
|
|
OAF Violation Category | OAF_VIOL_CAT |
|
|
OAF Violation Section | OAF_VIOL_SECTION | ||
OAF Violation Suffix | OAF_VIOLATION_SUFFIX | Blank may appear if no suffix. | |
Other Associated Factor 1 | OAF_1 |
|
|
Other Associated Factor 2 | OAF_2 | same as OAF 1 above | |
Party Number Killed | PARTY_NUMBER_KILLED | counts victims in the party with degree of injury of 1 | 0 to N for each party |
Party Number Injured | PARTY_NUMBER_INJURED | counts victims in the party with degree of injury of 2, 3, or 4 | 0 to N for each party |
Movement Preceding Crash | MOVE_PRE_ACC |
|
|
Vehicle Year | VEHICLE_YEAR | the model year of the party's vehicle | 9999 or blank = not stated |
Vehicle Make | VEHICLE_MAKE | the full description of the make of the party's vehicle | |
Statewide Vehicle Type | STWD_VEHICLE_TYPE |
|
|
CHP Vehicle Type Towing | CHP_VEH_TYPE_TOWING |
|
|
CHP Vehicle Type Towed | CHP_VEH_TYPE_TOWED |
|
|
Party Race | RACE |
|
|
Inattention | INATTENTION | The July 2003 form revision separated 'P' Cell Phone into 'A' Handheld and 'B' Handsfree. All other values 'Q' through 'Y' were converted to 'C' through 'K'. |
|
Special Info F | SPECIAL_INFO_F |
|
|
Special Info G | SPECIAL_INFO_G |
|
Victim Level
Item Name | Variable Name | Description | Values |
---|---|---|---|
Case Id | CASE_ID | the unique identifier of the crash report (barcode beginning 2002; 19 digit code prior to 2002) | |
Party Number | PARTY_NUMBER | 1 to 999 | |
Victim Role | VICTIM_ROLE |
|
|
Victim Sex | VICTIM_SEX |
|
|
Victim Age | VICTIM_AGE | the age of the victim at the time of the crash |
|
Victim Degree of Injury | VICTIM_DEGREE_OF_INJURY |
|
|
Victim Seating Position | VICTIM_SEATING_POSITION |
|
|
Victim Safety Equipment 1 | VICTIM_SAFETY_EQUIP_1 |
|
|
Victim Safety Equipment 2 | VICTIM_SAFETY_EQUIP_2 | same as Victim Safety Equipment 1 above (eff. Jan 2002) | |
Victim Ejected | VICTIM_EJECTED |
|
|
Victim Number | VICTIM_NUMBER | the unique identifier of the victim |