Table 1

Descriptive data for newspaper articles on road traffic crashes

Variable	Categories or description of variable
Date of article
Type of article	Commentary: General article on road traffic crashes, often written by the general public Editorial: Piece by editor, often expressing a viewpoint Informational piece: Report on data released by police, National Road Safety Commission, or other source Report on crash: Article reporting on a specific motor vehicle crash event Report on pedestrian injury: Article reporting on specific incidents in which a pedestrian was killed, injured, or hit by a vehicle
Type of crash	Head-on, rear-on, side swipe, right angled, overturn, hit object, hit parked/broken down vehicle, or hit pedestrian
Number of vehicles involved
Number of on-the-spot or prehospital deaths
Number of people injured
How the victims were transported to a health facility	Ambulance, private vehicle
Potential causes of the crash or the resultant injury	Examples: use of alcohol, speeding, vehicle maintenance, non-use of seatbelts and crash helmets
Public specific action	Actions that individuals and/or civil society groups could/should take to prevent crashes or related injuries in the future
Government specific action	Actions the central government or agencies could/should take to prevent future crashes or related injuries
Follow-up publication	Article written in reference to a prior article on a crash, typically following up on the fate of those involved