World-first data project will unlock insights on road crashes

TRL is partnering with University Hospital Southampton to reduce road deaths by linking health records and road traffic collision data for the first time.

The partners have been awarded £500,000 in funding by the Department for Transport and the Road Safety Trust to launch a world-first initiative: the Data Sustains Life project.

Over the next two years, the project aims to anonymously integrate wide-ranging data insights, providing a holistic view of the causes and consequences of road crashes in Great Britain.

Road traffic collisions cause around 30,000 deaths and serious injuries annually in Great Britain and cost the economy around £42 billion. The Data Sustains Life project aims to significantly reduce the tragic loss of life and serious harm.

Despite significant investments in road safety technologies and interventions, the toll of road crashes on British roads has shown little change in recent years. The project aims to tackle this persistent issue by exploring the relationship between road crashes and the resulting health outcomes, offering an unprecedented approach to improving road safety and coordinating the efforts of both the healthcare and transport sectors.

TRL’s Head of Transport Safety Dr Phil Martin said, “This project is a global first. By anonymously linking health data with road safety data, we can unlock new insights that will enable us to approach road safety with a fresh perspective. Our goal is to ensure that no more lives are unnecessarily lost on Britain’s roads.”

Data Sustains Life is a core part of a growing Pre-hospital Research and Audit Network (PRANA), led by Principal Investigator Dr Phil Hyde. It is linking data from ambulances, air ambulances, police, the Department for Transport, and coroners, as well as the many interactions flowing through hospitals. This includes emergency care, intensive care, trauma care and rehabilitation registries. PRANA is one of the first projects to use the Wessex Secure Data Environment (SDE), a new NHS platform, which aims to unlock the power of patient data to develop new treatments and improve NHS efficiency, effectiveness, and safety.

Dr Hyde, a paediatric intensive care consultant at University Hospital Southampton (UHS) and a pre-hospital critical care consultant with Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, said, “The concept of linking these different data sources was thought to be impossible, but every idea has its time. Enabled by the Wessex Secure Data Environment, this project will allow UK researchers to identify patterns, risk factors, and critical points for intervention. The ultimate goal is to use these new data to inform better policies and strategies to bring down the number of fatalities and serious injuries.”

The Data Sustains Life project is set to run over the next two years and focus on the Dorset, Hampshire, and Thames Valley region. The process will be capable of being brought to scale in other regions and nationally with investment from statutory authorities. Findings are expected to inform both national road safety policies and global best practices. This could save countless lives and unlock substantial healthcare economic benefits in the future.

DfT Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor Sarah Sharples said “The Data Sustains Life project represents a pivotal moment for road safety in the UK. By integrating healthcare and road safety data in ways never before achieved, this initiative provides a critical opportunity to unlock insights that could fundamentally change how we address road crashes and their devastating consequences. This innovative work is essential to driving the progress needed to save lives and create safer, future roads for everyone.”