Detailed guidebooks for each HSIS State are available to HSIS users. The purpose of the guidebooks is to provide sufficient information for both the analyst and the programmer to effectively use the system. The guidebooks document data quality issues uncovered through annual quality control checks or reported by system users.
The guidebook for each State contains a basic description of the State data system, an alphabetized listing (by file type) of all available variables, detailed definitions of each category present within each variable, and notes on the quality of the variable. The guidebooks are updated on a two-three year cycle or as significant changes occur. (Note that in the past, HSIS also published a “Volume II” containing single-variable tabulations for a large number of "key" variables within each of the files across five years. Based on a user survey, Volume II is no longer published. However, for users needing information on sample sizes across years, custom-designed tables will be prepared by HSIS staff on request.)
HSIS Guidebook for California State Data Files
Volume I: SAS File Formats
August 2007 — FHWA-RD-00-137
Download PDF version (232 KB)
HSIS Guidebook for Illinois State Data Files
Volume I: SAS File Formats
April 2009
Download PDF version (225 KB)
HSIS Guidebook for Maine State Data Files
Volume I: SAS File Formats
October 2006
Download PDF version (262 KB)
HSIS Guidebook for Michigan State Data Files
Volume I: SAS File Formats
January 2001 — FHWA-RD-01-118
Download PDF version (1.9 MB)
HSIS Guidebook for Minnesota State Data Files
Volume I: SAS File Formats
August 2007 — FHWA-RD-01-058
Download PDF version (243 KB)
HSIS Guidebook for North Carolina State Data Files
Volume I: SAS File Formats
January 2006
Download PDF version (900 KB)
HSIS Guidebook for Ohio State Data Files
Volume I: SAS File Formats
August 2007
Download PDF version (228 KB)
HSIS Guidebook for Utah State Data Files
Volume I: SAS File Formats
March 2000 — FHWA-RD-01-056
Download PDF version (582 KB)
HSIS Guidebook for Washington State Data Files
Volume I: SAS File Formats
April 2009
Download PDF version (294 KB)
All of the selected States maintain basic crash files, roadway inventory files, and traffic files. In addition, individual States also collect other types of data.
New guidebooks now avaliable online for California, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, and Utah.