Official reporting and newspaper coverage of road crashes: A case study

Abstract

This paper describes a case study in Flanders-Belgium on the reporting rate of road crashes. Crash data from three sources were compared: official crash data, data retrieved from an insurance company and newspaper articles. A sample of 140 injury crashes with motorcyclists from an insurance company was used as the reference category. The purpose was to explore factors that contribute to the likelihood of crashes (not) to be reported in official statistics and newspapers. Logistic regression analyses and chi-square tests were used to reveal differences in reporting rate according to some variables. About 80% of the crashes with severe injuries were reported in the official statistics whereas the reporting rate for crashes with slightly injured was about 55%. Newspapers covered about 50% of crashes with severe injuries. The reporting rate in both official statistics and newspapers increased with the severity of the crash.3

“Crashing the gates” – selection criteria for television news reporting of traffic crashes

“…A study by Daniels et al (2010) investigated the newspaper coverage of 140 injury crashes with motorcyclists. The study indicates that the reporting rate in media increases when the severity of the crash is higher.…”

“…The relationship between mass media and traffic safety for instance is highly relevant. Media are playing an important role in the creation of health awareness, such as road safety attitudes in a population (Combs & Slovic, 1979;Connor & Wesolowski, 2004;Daniels et al, 2010). This appears for example from a number of studies showing an important influence of mass media on alcohol-impaired driving.…”

“…Research shows that the link between media reporting and developments in reality is far from perfect (Kepplinger & Habermeier, 1995;Lowry et al, 2003;Perse et al, 1997). Editorial decisions about the 'newsworthiness' of an event are often based on a story's novelty and dramatic value; events that are more rarely occurring or more dramatic are more likely to get reported (Adams, 1992;Combs & Slovic, 1979;Connor & Wesolowski, 2004;Daniels et al, 2010). In our 'mediatized' society, media determine the perception more than reality (Ghanem, 1996).…”

“…In our 'mediatized' society, media determine the perception more than reality (Ghanem, 1996). Several studies indicate that the public perception of safety risks or threats, such as traffic crashes, are subject to systematic biases (Combs & Slovic, 1979;Connor & Wesolowski, 2004;Daniels et al, 2010). When people consume news, they assume that the coverage presents a fair representation of reality.…”

“…This perception influences the way people think about, react on, or adjust their behaviour to diverse forms of safety risks. It is likely that the number of media reported crashes and the way of reporting influence the perception of the risk of certain behaviours (Daniels et al, 2010). Also Frost et al (1997) suggest that media create a biased perception of different causes of death.…”