National Automotive Sampling System
For many years, the National Automotive Sampling System provided NHTSA with an efficient resource to conduct data collection that represented a broad spectrum of crashes in America. NASS was composed of two systems: the Crashworthiness Data System and the General Estimates System. These cases were selected from a sample of police crash reports.
NHTSA received funding in 2012 to modernize NASS. To ensure the update would meet the needs of the highway safety community, NHTSA sought user input from government, academia, and industry on NASS GES and NASS CDS. NHTSA conducted a comprehensive review of the NASS research design and data collection methods as part of an effort to modernize the system. As a result, NHTSA designed a new system that is flexible and scalable to accommodate the requirements. In 2016, both the NASS CDS and NASS GES data programs were sunset and replaced with the Crash Investigation Sampling System and Crash Report Sampling System, respectively.
- Crashworthiness Data System Overview
- NASS CDS Case Viewer - XML Viewer (2004-current)
- Manuals and Documentation - NASS-CDS
- NASS CDS FTP Site
GES data came from a nationally representative sample of police reported motor vehicle crashes of all types, from minor to fatal. The system began in 1988, and was created to identify traffic safety problem areas, provide a basis for regulatory and consumer initiatives, and form the basis for cost and benefit analyses of traffic safety initiatives. The information was used to estimate how many crashes of different kinds take place, and what happens when they occur.