P6. MHH

Introduction of the organization
The Accident Research Unit of Hannover Medical School (MHH) has been recording road traffic accidents involving personal injury in the Hannover Region since 1973 using an on-scene data collection approach. A statistical sampling plan has been used for this purpose since the 1980s to conduct representative data collection. Since 1999, accident research has been incorporated into the GIDAS database, one of Europe’s largest in-depth accident databases. Next to collecting comprehensive information on interdisciplinary data such as road infrastructure, vehicle type and damage, injuries and causes, accident reconstruction is conducted to determine the course of the accident and detailed collision data. Since the 2013 accident year, people involved in accidents have been qualitatively questioned about possible long-term consequences in addition to the GIDAS scope. 

The Federal Highway Research Institute co-finances accident research with the exception of 2020 to 2023. During this time, the general accident data collection has been carried out on its own account, using the GIDAS methodology. 

Role in the project
The in-depth accident data collected by MHH during the years 2020 to 2023 is used in various parts of the project. On the one hand, accident data is used to identify relevant use cases in the scope of WP1, and on the other hand, the data is used for developing engineering tools and methods in the scope of WP3. With the available accident information, the development of countermeasures and their effectiveness will be assessed. 

In addition, MHH leads the work on developing medical and epidemiological methods, using its knowledge of long-term consequences and expertise in injuries and injury coding.