Virginia Tech-developed tools help make Virginia roads safer through smarter crash data
Every day, law enforcement officers across Virginia respond to an average of 330 traffic crashes, one every four minutes. Their reports documenting what happened are an excellent source of data — and researchers from Virginia Tech's Center for Geospatial Information Technology (CGIT) have transformed them into a comprehensive road safety data resource that saves lives.
For more than a decade, Kathleen Hancock, professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Brandon Herndon, director of CGIT, have led a collaborative effort to transform 1.8 million crash reports into a suite of digital tools offering accurate crash information in near real time. Transportation and public safety agencies across the commonwealth use their Data Analytics System for Highway Safety (DASH) to pinpoint emerging safety issues, identify dangerous roadways, and design improvements that prevent crashes.
Building better data
The effort began in 2010, when the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Highway Safety Office partnered with CGIT and faculty in civil and environmental engineering to develop, standardize, and expand a centralized platform for improving location information associated with crashes. Through several iterations, the researchers developed the Crash Reference Attribute Standardization Hub, or CRASH.
As the quality of the data improved, the project's focus shifted from collecting reliable information to making it more accessible to the people who needed it. Law enforcement agencies wanted timely information to support targeted enforcement, while the Highway Safety Office sought a more effective way to explore crash trends and evaluate safety initiatives beyond twice-yearly reports.
In 2019, Hancock started working with the Highway Safety Office and Virginia State Police to develop DASH, which combines decades of crash records with roadway imagery, real-time speed data, and interactive mapping tools. The platform allows users to examine how changing roadway conditions, traffic patterns and volume, and factors such as driver behavior influence safety.
"Our partnership, from its inception, has been focused on improving data-driven decisions to save lives on Virginia's roads," Hancock said.
Developed with the people who use it
One of the strengths of DASH is that it wasn't built in isolation. Regular feedback sessions with state troopers, supervisors, and highway safety officials have shaped new features and improvements, allowing the system to evolve alongside the agencies it serves.
The tool has already changed how the Virginia State Police approach highway safety. Before DASH, troopers often relied on reports that were months or years old, creating a significant lag between when crashes occurred and when decisions were made. Today, troopers can view both historical and near real-time crash information alongside current vehicle speeds, which allows them to identify emerging safety concerns and adjust patrols as conditions change.
That flexibility matters because highway safety is constantly evolving. Trends can vary widely from one community to another, influenced by changes in traffic volume, driver behavior, commercial vehicle activity, and other local factors. A statewide trend may show pedestrian fatalities declining overall, while an individual community could be experiencing the opposite. By making current information readily available, DASH helps agencies recognize those local patterns sooner and respond more effectively.
“Moving from decision-making that relies on data that is over a year old to instead using near-real-time data has had a significant impact on State Police enforcement planning," said Herndon. "They use DASH as part of their daily operations. We look forward to expanding the tool’s usage to all law enforcement in the commonwealth over the next few years.”
Why it matters to Virginians
Virginia's citizens will never log into DASH. But they benefit every day from the decisions those tools support.
"One of the most rewarding aspects of this project has been seeing how data can directly support efforts to save lives," Hancock said. "Our goal has always been to help decision-makers move from simply collecting data to actively using it to make Virginia's roads safer for all users."
