Delaware Traffic Crash Analysis
When the State released the traffic crash data to the public in early March 2023, they provided a Dashboard to filter and sort the data. To use it, follow the instructions on its website:
Read terms and conditions - copied below in red.
Click the box to agree to the terms and click 'ok.'
Then, the Dashboard (shown on the right) will show up.
The instructions show how to sort/filter the data.
The Terms of Use of State's Crash Data
"The Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security (DSHS) is the official custodian of Delaware crash reports and is responsible for statewide crash data collection and dissemination. A crash report is a summary of information collected about a collision and is filled out by a Delaware law enforcement officer who is investigating the crash. The data contained on FirstMap and the Open Data Portal represents the best available information at DSHS and is not an official record of what transpired in a particular crash or for a particular crash type and does not contain personal information. This data is generated from crash reports and allows any member of the public to engage in interactive analysis and data exploration for the purpose of identifying, evaluating or planning the safety enhancement of potential crash sites, hazardous roadway conditions, or railway-highway crossings. This data is updated monthly and contains crashes that occurred since 2009 through six months ago. Official crash reports are confidential and are not a public record under the Delaware Freedom of Information Act. Authorized parties may contact the reporting police agency directly for official copies of crash reports (21 Del. C. §313). "
Using the State's 'non-official' public data (see above), this Dashboard was created to analyze Sussex County's crashes by different categories - crash types and year. The data goes back to 2009 and up to '6 months ago.'
(Since the data did not include the name of the county or the jurisdiction of the crash location, Latitude 39 and below was used as Sussex County data.)
This Dashboard also gives users more flexibility in filtering the data in a combination of Date Range and other criteria, such as School Buses, bikers or Pedestrians Involved, Road Conditions, Day of Week, etc.
How to use the Sussex2030's Dashboard
There are 3 main filters (search criteria or selection options) that control the map, all counters, and charts. They are in the areas with gray backgrounds. The Dashboard opens with the default selection of ALL.
Date Range - It is on the top right.
Crash Type - It is under the Date Range selection. Click one or more pie quarters or descriptions for the Crash Type. To reset to ALL, click anywhere outside of the circle or the descriptions.
Year - This is under the Crash Type selection area. Each year is represented by a bar. Click one or more bars to select the Years of interest. To reset to ALL, click outside the colored bars.
More filters are hidden behind the Right Arrow on the far left of the screen. Click on the arrow, and the filter section will be pulled out. To close this section, click on the Left Arrow on the right of the section.
Some Takeaways from the Crash Analysis
DUI is involved in about 6% of total crashes, but it is involved in about 50% of fatal crashes.
School buses are involved in a good number of crashes.
In 2020, during the lockdown, there were fewer crashes.