National Collision Database Online Help

This is the online help for the National Collision Database (NCDB) Online.

• For information about using the NCDB Online application to create a table, see Creating a table.
• For a description of other pages in the application, such as the download page, the help and tutorials, and the summary pages, see Miscellaneous pages.
• For information about tables, variables, and dimensions, see Introduction to dimensions.

Creating a table

This is a quick overview of the four steps for creating a table using NCDB Online. For more detailed information, see the topics for Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, and Step 4.

To create a table:

1. Select Start NCDB Online.
   • The Step 1: Select variables page appears. Variables will appear as dimensions in your table.
   • You can choose up to eight variables. Year and Measures are required dimensions, and they have already been pre-selected.
2. When you have finished selecting variables, select Next step.
   • The Step 2: Select items page appears. Select items for each variable and decide how you want to show totals.
3. When you have finished selecting items, select Next step.
   • The Step 3: Set table layout page appears. Decide which dimensions you want on the rows, on the columns, and in the Other dimension area of your table.
4. When you have finished laying out your table, select Next step.
   • Your table appears in the Step 4: View table page.

If you want to change your selections or the layout of your table, you can return to any page at any time. To return to a page, click the links for Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, or Step 4 at the top of the page.

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Step 1: Select variables

First use the Select variables page to choose the variables for your table. Variables will appear as dimensions.

• You can choose up to eight variables. Year and Measures are required dimensions, and are already pre-selected.
• To find out more information about a variable, select the Details icon beside the variable. The Variable details page appears. You can also consult the list of categories and descriptions of variables, below.
• When you have finished choosing variables, select Next step to open the Select items page.

Variables are arranged into four categories, as follows:

A. Collision Date

• Year - Calendar year in which the collision occurred. (11 items)
• Month - Month in which the collision occurred. (14 items)
• Day of Month - Day of the month that the collision occurred. (33 items)
• Day of Week - Day of the week that that collision occurred. (9 items)
• Collision Hour - Hour of the day when the collision occurred. (34 items)

B. Collision Details

• Collision Conf - Configuration of the first collision event. (21 items)
• Persons-Coll. - Number of persons involved in the collision. (13 items)
• Road Alignment - Visual alignment of the roadway. (9 items)
• Road Surface - Condition of the road surface. (12 items)
• Roadway Config - Roadway configuration at the collision site. (15 items)
• Collision Sev - Severity of the consequences of the entire collision. (3 items)
• Traffic Control - Predominant traffic control device/measure present. (21 items)
• Vehicles-Coll. - Number of vehicles involved in the collision. (7 items)
• Weather - Weather condition. (10 items)
• Pedestrians - Number of pedestrians involved in the collision. (5 items)

C. Vehicle Details

• People in Veh. - Number of people in the vehicle. (8 items)
• Vehicle Type - Classification according to general design of vehicle. (21 items)
• Vehicle Year - Model year of the vehicle as specified by the manufacturer. (131 items)

D. Person Details

• Injury Severity - Whether a person was killed, injured or uninjured. (6 items)
• Person Age - Age of the person according to the last birthday. (117 items)
• Person Position - Seating position of the person in the vehicle. (26 items)
• Person Gender - Gender of the person. (5 items)
• Road User Class - General category of road user. (7 items)
• Safety Device - Safety device used. (11 items)

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Step 2: Select items

After you have chosen the variables for your table, you can use the Select items page to select items for each variable.

1. First select a variable from the Variables list on the left, and then select its items under Items.
2. For each variable, use Totals to calculate to choose whether you want the application to calculate totals of the items, and if you do, how you want to display the totals. You can select one or more of the following:
   • Total of selected items
   • Total of all items (selected and non-selected)
   • Total of non-selected items

   Note that you can also request 'no totals' by deselecting all of the choices. 'No totals' is the best choice for variables that only have one selected item -- for example, if you are only selecting one year for the Year variable.

3. For each variable, use Display of totals and items to choose what to display. You can select either of the following:
   • Show totals and items -- The application creates totals and displays them along with the other items.
   • Show totals only -- The application only shows the calculated totals.

   If you have not selected any options under Totals to calculate, it does not matter what is selected under Display of totals and items.

4. Repeat until you have made item selections for each variable. When you have finished, select Next step to open the Set table layout page.

Default selections

If you want to accept the default item selections for a variable, you do not have to open it or make any selections. These are the default item selections for all variables:

• Totals to calculate -- The default is 'Total of selected items'. (Measures does not have totals.)
• Display of totals and items -- The default is 'Show totals and items'.
• Items -- The default is 'Select all'.

Ranges

The variables Age and Collision Hour have a Ranges section as well as an Items section. You can select a range of values as well as, or instead of, individual values.

Note that if you select both ranges and totals, the totals will be calculated intelligently. That is, they will not contain double counts.

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Step 3: Set table layout

When you have finished selecting variables and items for your table, you can use the Set table layout page to define your table's layout.

Layout refers to the positioning of dimensions on the rows, the columns, and the Other dimension area of a table. You can use the Set dimension order section of this page to lay out your table.

1. For each dimension, first select an area (Rows, Columns, or Other) from the Area drop-down list. Every table has to have at least one row dimension and one column dimension.
2. In Position, assign a position to each dimension using the drop-down list. A dimension's position determines if it will be nested inside another dimension.
   • If two dimensions in the same area (rows or columns) have the same position, the second will nest inside the first.
   • If two dimensions in the Other dimension area have the same position, the second will appear to the right of the first.
3. In Page size, type the number of rows and columns that you want to appear on a page.

When you have finished laying out your table, select Next step to display your table on the View table page.

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Step 4: View table

The View table page displays your data in the form of a table.

• Note that if you want to change your variable or item selections, or lay out your table differently, you can use the links at the top of the View table page to go back to the other pages of the application.

The tasks you can perform on the View table page are described here:

Paging

The current pagination of the table appears just above the table. For example, it might say 'Rows 1 to 20 of 30', or 'Columns 1 to 3 of 3'.

If a table has more rows or columns than you can see on one page, you can select Page up, Page down, Page left, or Page right to see more.

• If you want to change the number of rows or columns that can appear on a page, click Step 3: Set table layout and enter the new values under Page size.

Downloading

Downloading a table saves it on your computer.

To download a table:

1. Select the download format. The following download formats are supported:
   • IVT - Beyond 20/20 table format
   • XLS - Microsoft Excel format
   • CSV - Comma-delimited ASCII format
   • SSV - Semicolon-delimited ASCII format
   • PDF - Adobe Portable Document Format
2. The Download page appears, informing you of the size of the download. If you want to proceed, select Download.
3. A dialog box may appear; follow the instructions.

Viewing notes

Notes provide information about objects such as tables, dimensions, or items.

• To view notes, select the Notes icon next to an object's name. The notes page for that type of object appears.
• For more information, select Help on a specific notes page.

Sorting data

• To sort by the data in any column, select Sort ascending or Sort descending in the header area of the column.
• Once a sort has been applied, the name of the Sort control changes to Reset sort. Select Reset sort if you want to revert to the original sort order.

Changing the items in an Other dimension

Other dimensions are those that appear in the Other dimension area. Other dimensions are not on the rows or the columns, but their data affects the values in the table.

• To cycle through the items in an Other dimension, select Previous item or Next item beside the name of the current item. The values in the table change to reflect the currently-selected item.

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Miscellaneous pages

This section of the help describes other pages in the NCDB Online application, such as the download page, the online help and tutorials, and the summary pages.

Download page

The Download page appears when you have selected a file format for the table you wish to download. It informs you of the size of the downloaded file.

Note: In order to maintain acceptable performance on the site, download limits (the total number of cells that can be downloaded) have been set. If you exceed the limit a message will appear. In that case you should reduce the number of variables in your table or the number of selected items in the variables.

• If you want to proceed, select Download.
• To return to the table viewer, select Back.

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Help and tutorials

• The online help explains each page of the NCDB application in detail. It is context-sensitive; that is, clicking Help at the top of any given page of the application opens the relevant section of the help. Most users will go to the help if they have a specific question about some part of the application.
• The tutorials provide an examination of two specific table-building scenarios. Most users will work through the tutorials from start to finish.
• Both documents have a table of contents at the top left. To return to the table of contents from anywhere in either document, select Back to top.
• To search in the help or the tutorials, use your browser's search function (CTRL+F).
• To close the help or the tutorials and return to the NCDB Online application, click the link for Start NCDB Online at the top of the page. (You can also use your browser's Back button.)

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Variable details page

The Variable details page provides additional information about the selected variable. The following information may be provided:

• Name
• Category
• Description
• Notes
• All possible items

To open the details page for a variable, select the Details icon next to the variable's name.

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Item notes page

The Item notes page provides additional information (metadata) about a dimension item.

• To open the notes page for a dimension item, select the Notes icon next to the name of the item.

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Dimension notes page

The Dimension notes page provides additional information (metadata) about a dimension.

• To open the notes page for a dimension, select the Notes icon next to the name of the dimension.

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Table summary page

The Table summary page provides additional information (metadata) about a table.

• To open the notes page for a table, select the Notes icon next to the table's title.

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Introduction to dimensions

A dimension is a category of data in a table, such as Weather or Age. You create dimensions by choosing variables.

• Dimensions are made up of dimension items. For example, a Weather dimension might be made up of such items as Clear, Raining, and Snowing, and an Age dimension might contain all the ages from 0 to 100 years.
• If the dimension has notes, a link to the notes page appears next to the dimension name.

Reports have three dimension positions: Column dimensions, Row dimensions, and Other dimensions.

Column dimensions

• A column is a set of data cells arranged vertically from top to bottom. The names of column items appear along the top of a table's data area, underneath the Other dimension bar.

Row dimensions

• A row is a set of data cells arranged horizontally. The names of row items appear down the left-hand side of a table's data area.

Other dimensions

• Other dimensions appear above the table area, in the Other dimension bar. They are not on the rows or the columns, but their data affects the values in the table.
• The name of the currently active dimension item in an Other dimension appears next to the dimension name. You can select Next item and Previous item to cycle through all the items in the dimension. The table's data values change to reflect the active item.

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