The Crash Query application enables users to run custom crash queries and displays the results in real-time. Users can view the results of their queries using a GIS map interface, tables, custom graphs and charts, or downloadable CSV and PDF reports. The Crash Query application is broken into the following sections: Date Extents, Map, Filter Bar, Crash Flyout, Metrics, Chart Builder, Raw Table, Query Library and Reports Download. Each of these sections will be discussed in more detail below.

The map section of Crash Query displays the currently filtered data in either a satellite or map overlay. The map view will display the crashes in either a heat map or a map point view. By default, the map will display a heat map, which provides a more complete summary of crash density, with the more crash-dense areas displayed in dark blue.

(The heat map view of the Crash Query map displaying all pedestrian-involved crashes for a given county.)
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Crash query will automatically switch from the heat map view, to the cluster view, and a satellite map, when the map zooms in, allowing greater detail in specific crash locations. In cluster view, crashes occupying the same geolocation are grouped into crash clusters, and color coded according to the most severe crash in the cluster.

The number on the cluster indicates the number of crashes contained in the cluster. Clicking on a cluster will zoom the map to that location and break out all crashes contained in the cluster.

(A heat map view of the Crash Query map, zoomed in to reveal crash clusters.)

Additionally, users can hide all of the crashes on a map using the Hide Crashes button, located at the top of the screen, next to the total number of crashes being displayed. This can be useful when configuring a query, or zooming in on a map to a specific location.

(The Show/Hide crash icon, with all crashes hidden)

The map toolbar in Crash Query lets you customize the map, find locations, filter crashes by area, and export what you see. It includes Map Settings, Layers, Map Search, Zoom Controls, the Polygon Tool, the Circle Tool, the Line Tool, the Measure Tool, Filter to View, Zoom to Extents, 3D View, and Download.

The Filter Bar allows users to refine their Query search by filtering by any datapoint in the available crash data. Some organizations may have enabled “Default Filters,” which open new queries with chosen filters already applied. These filters can be removed or edited by users in created queries; however, the default filters will reappear in all new queries.

Users can filter by crash attributes (first harmful event, manner of collision, etc), vehicle attributes (vehicle type, vehicle maneuver, etc.), occupant attributes (severity, number of occupants, etc.), and even roadway and location attributes (roadway functional class, city, county, route, block of route, etc.).

Enter the name of the value in the filter’s search bar to see it appear in the list, as not all options are visible by scrolling alone.

(The Filter Bar for a given city, filtering for all sideswipe same direction crashes)
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When more than five filters are present in the Filter Bar, a Hide Filters option will be displayed in the Search Bar. Clicking this will hide the filters, and collapse the search bar. The Search Bar can then be expanded by clicking the Show Filters button.

(Top image: The Filter Bar, with the Hide Filters option available. Bottom image: the Filter Bar with the filters hidden.)
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You can select multiple values from within a filter’s dropdown options. After selecting each value, click the "Apply" button to apply the filters to the query. Users can also copy and paste items from a CSV list into a filter to apply them as values.

(The Filter Bar with Suspected Serious and Fatal Injury Crash Severities selected)
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Two separate base filters added to the filter bar have an “AND” relationship. Values from within the same base filter have an “OR” relationship. For example, if the City and Crash Severity filters are separate base filters, then they have an AND relationship. This means the query will return crashes that occurred in the selected city AND have the specified crash severity(s).

On the other hand, the values selected from the Crash Severity filter—Suspected Serious Injury and Fatal—are from the same base filter and have an OR relationship. Therefore, the query will return crashes that occurred in the selected city AND had a crash severity of Suspected Serious Injury OR Fatal.

To learn more about the Filter Bar, see our Filter Bar article.
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Clicking on a crash in the map point view or in the raw table will display the crash flyout. The Crash Flyout provides an in-depth analysis of a specific crash, including a Google Streetview of the crash location, crash, vehicle, and occupant level data, and a link out to any external documents available for that crash (e.g., collision report PDF, available images from the crash, or any other external resources that are available).
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Additionally, the Crash Flyout contains the "Exclude this Crash" and "Edit Attributes" options. Clicking "Exclude this Crash" opens the "Exclude Crash" window. After selecting the exclusion reason, the crash will be filtered out of the query.

(The Exclude Crash window, with Inaccurate Crash Location selected as the exclusion reason.)
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When a crash is excluded from a Query, a crash exclusion message appears on the right side of the screen, above the metrics sidebar. Excluded crashes are only excluded from the current query. If the query is saved, all crash exclusions will be saved within that query only. A crash can be easily re-included in the query by clicking the Include button again from the crash flyout, or from within the crash exclusion notification above the metrics sidebar.

(The crash exclusion notification message, displayed above the metrics sidebar, indicating one crash has been excluded from the query).
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Note that crashes can also be excluded by unchecking the selected crash from the Raw Table tab within Crash Query.

(The Stats Sidebar displayed for a crash selected from the Raw Table tab, note the crash is unchecked within the raw table, indicating this crash has been excluded.)
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Users can view assets near a specified crash on the crash map. To enable this, toggle “Show on Map” next to Assets on at the bottom of the Crash Flyout menu. Users can display assets with a range of 500 feet or 1,000 feet. The asset color, opacity, and lane width (when relevant) can be adjusted by selecting the color box next to each asset.

(Asset options within the Crash Flyout. If there are no assets near a crash, no assets will appear here.)

(Assets displayed on the map near a crash)

(Changing the asset color with the corresponding asset appearing in its updated color on the crash map)
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When a crash cluster is clicked on the crash map, the crash flyout will include a scroll option that allows users to browse through the individual crashes within that cluster.

(Crash cluster scroll option)
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The Metrics tab displays a detailed breakdown of crash attributes that meet the current search criteria for the query. The first column of the Metrics table indicates the crash attribute, with the second column indicating the total number of crashes in the current search criteria that match the attribute.
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If available, a third column will indicate the percentage of crashes that match that attribute. Any attributes that have a value of zero will not be displayed in the Metrics tab.
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Users can use the Metrics Tab to explore data related to the crash, click on any metric to add it as a filter to the current Query. When clicked, that metric will appear in the Filter Bar, and the map, Metrics, Chart Builder, and Raw Table tabs will update accordingly.

(The Metrics Sidebar Tab)
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Users can customize the metrics displayed for each query by selecting the settings cog in the top-right of the Metrics Sidebar. Any crash attribute available in the Dataset can be selected, and added to the displayed metrics. Any data contained in the Metrics tab will be included in any Crash Reports generated from the Query.

As with the Filter Bar, any metrics selected for display will be saved when saving a Query.
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Users can use the Chart Builder to create and download custom bar charts, stacked and grouped bar charts, line charts, pie charts, and pivot tables. Users can select from available measures and groupings to easily visualize any data available in the current Query. Each chart type can be downloaded as either a PNG image (bar, stacked bar, grouped bar, line, and pie), or as a CSV (pivot table).

Charts are saved with any Query, and can be easily referenced or downloaded from previously saved Crash Queries.

For more information on the Chart Builder, see our Crash Query - Chart Builder article.

(Using the Chart Builder to build a grouped bar chart displaying the cost of alcohol related crashes, grouped by county, displaying the top 10.)
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The Raw Table tab provides a raw table of all data in the current query. Users can customize the dataset and columns of data that pull into the Raw Table. The Raw Table can be downloaded as a CSV or XML format.

(The Raw Table tab of Crash Query.)

(Choose between the crash, person, and vehicle datasets to bring into the Raw Table)

(Select the columns of data to display in the Raw Table in the Hide/Show Columns pop-up)

(Download the Raw Table as a .csv file or .xml file and view how many rows of data will be included in the download)

Users can easily move a query from Crash Query to any Network Screening application through the Open In Icon, located in the menu bar at the top of the screen. With your crash filters added, click the Open In icon, and select the network screening application you would like to open.

(The Open In menu displaying a list of available Network Screening applications.)

After selecting the desired Network Screening application, all of your applied filters will be migrated to a new Network Screening. If the selected date extents for your query differ from the default date extents in Network Screening, you will be prompted to select which date extents to apply to your new Network Screening.

(A date selection window, prompting the user to select which date extents to use for the new Network Screening.)

A new Network Screening will then be created with all relevant filters from your initial query.
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Users can open intersections in Safety Analysis from Crash Query. To accomplish this, at least one Intersection ID and/or at least one Route ID must be applied to your query as a filter. Once either or both filters are applied, select the Open In icon in the top right of the screen and choose Safety Analysis. If Intersection ID and/or Route ID filters are not applied to the query, the Safety Analysis option will be grayed out.

NOTE: This feature may not function properly if:

(The Open In Safety Analysis option displayed in Crash Query with Intersection ID and Route ID filters applied.)
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(The Download report button in Crash Query)

Crash Query comes with three pre-built reports: Crash Summary, Before/After, and Over-representation reports. You can use these reports to export your query results as an easy-to-share PDF. Reports include a summary of the report parameters (Report title, date created, created by, report date range), the filters applied to generate the report, and any data in the Metrics tab of the current Query.
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To generate a report, click the Download icon in the menu bar, in the top right corner of the screen. You will then be prompted to select which report to download. Note that Over-representation reports are available only when you apply a geo filter to your query.
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For more information on Crash Reports, see our Crash Query - Crash Summary Report, Crash Query - Before/After Report, and Over-representation articles.
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When conducting a Crash Query, it is easy to see the date range of crash data being displayed. By checking the Date Extents, located in the top right corner of the screen, you can see what dates of data are displayed in your Query. Crashes that occurred outside of the years included in the set Date Extents will not be filtered or displayed in your query. To include those years, adjust the date range accordingly.

To modify the dates, click on the Date Extents in the menu bar, and select the date range you would like to include in your query.

To save a query, select the “Save” button in the top right corner of your screen.

Name your query and indicate which category (or create a new one) to save the query in. Saved queries without assigned categories are saved to the "Uncategorized" category by default. New categories can be added from within the Save Crash Query pop-up menu.

(Pop-up menu to save a query)
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Once a query has been saved, new menu options are available on the top right side of the screen within saved queries.

The menu options from within a saved query are:

To access your saved queries, select the Home button in the top left corner of your screen while in the Crash Query application.

(While in the Crash Query application, select the “Home” icon next to the applications menu)

This will take you to a page that displays queries you’ve saved as well as queries that have been shared with you.

(Saved queries page in Crash Query)

From this view, users have three options available using the stacked dots to the right of each query: Share, Edit Name/Category, Delete.

To share a query, select the three dots next to a query from within the library. Select “Share” and then “Add a user” and enter the emails of the users you’d like to share the query with in the pop-up box.

(Click the three dots next to a saved query to share the query, edit its name or category, or delete it)

Indicate what level of access you want shared users to have to the query, either edit or view access. Select "Done" when you’re finished.

(Use the drop-down menu next to shared user emails to choose if they have edit or view access)

If you’d like to share a query with someone who does not have an AASHTOWare Safety account, you will need to download a report PDF.

To change the name of a query, or edit the category it’s saved in, click the “Edit Name/Category” option from the stacked dots menu to the right of a saved query.

(The Edit Name/Category option in the Crash Query library)

The “Edit Name & Category” pop-up window will appear. From here, users can edit the query name and change the category it is saved in.

(The “Edit Name & Category” pop-up window)

Users can scroll through the available categories shared with them, or create a new category. To save the query in an existing category, simply click the checkbox next to the category.

(Scroll through available category names to save your query)

To add a new category, type the category name in the box and click the plus sign icon.

(Adding a new category)

Click the icon button next to the category from the left-side menu to see the queries saved there.

(Navigate between categories shared with you from the left-side menu)

To delete a query, select the “Delete” option from the stacked dots menu in your Crash Query library.

(The Delete option in Crash Query)

A pop-up will appear to confirm the deletion.

(The Delete Crash Query pop-up)