Highway Safety Research Group Changes Name

BATON ROUGE - The Highway Safety Research Group (HSRG) will now be known as the Center for Analytics & Research in Transportation Safety (CARTS). The request was approved by the LSU Board of Supervisors April 26, 2019. The new website is carts.lsu.edu and the new email address is carts@lsu.edu.

The Center for Analytics & Research in Transportation Safety (CARTS) is responsible for collecting, maintaining, storing, analyzing and distributing crash-related data captured from law enforcement and other agencies throughout the state of Louisiana. The data are used to perform many research studies and produce an annual factbook. These publications are used by decision-makers in setting policies, projects and programs to improve the safety of our state's roadways.

'The vision of the new LSU Center for Analytics & Research in Transportation Safety is to become a nationally recognized leader and trusted resource for traffic safety data analytics and research in highways safety,' said Helmut Schneider, executive director of CARTS. 'It will support Louisiana including the legislators, the DOTD, the State Police, the Louisiana Highways Safety Commission and other stakeholders to use data-driven decision making in their efforts to improve the safety of roadways throughout the state.'

CARTS also provides software development and support for information innovations used by law enforcement agencies around the state. The LACRASH program is used to capture electronic crash reporting information in an accurate and timely manner. Business Intelligence, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Data Infographics are projects being developed at the CARTS to have the data more accessible, display the data more visually, and make the data more meaningful.

The Louisiana Crash Data Reports website is a compilation of statistical data based on information obtained on traffic crashes submitted by state, sheriff, and local police agencies throughout the state of Louisiana. A wide variety of crash data reporting information and statistical analysis is available regarding motor vehicle crashes and the variables that cause them.

Data from crash reports are collected electronically daily from law enforcement agencies using the state’s crash reporting software LACRASH and periodically from other law enforcement agencies using third party software or submitting paper crash reports to the state. The Center for Analytics and Research in Transportation Safety at Louisiana State University analyzes the crash data on a nightly basis and updates the current year's crash data statistical reports to ensure that the most up-to-date information is available online.

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Elizabeth Eaton
E. J. Ourso College of Business
225-578-7833