ANSI D20

Data Dictionary for Traffic Record Systems

- History
- ANSI Procedures
- New Edition of D20
- Contact

Overview

Data Element Dictionary for Traffic Records Systems (herein referred to as D20, or the Dictionary) provides standard terminology and coding instructions designed to facilitate representations of data elements communicated between jurisdictions. As the use of computerized data systems for the administration of programs related to motor vehicles increases, the need for the transfer of data among systems and jurisdictions steadily increases. The Dictionary is intended to promote uniformity in the transmission of records in the following areas:

• Motor Vehicle Registration and Titling
• Driver and Commercial Drivers Licensing
• Highway Inventory and Traffic
• Accidents and Emergency Medical Services
• Motor Vehicle Inspection
• Motor Vehicle Insurance
• Traffic Law Enforcement

There are numerous applications of the data representations presented in this dictionary. Some examples include:

• Monitor Expiration and Renewal of Driver Licenses and Vehicle Registration
• Monitor Vehicle Inspection Requirements
• Estimate Traffic Law Enforcement and Emergency Medical Capabilities
• Monitor Traffic Violations Through the Adjudication Process
• Plan Highway Construction and Design Improvements
• Monitor Traffic Accident Experience
• Evaluate Internal Operations and Their Impact on the Motoring Public

With the addition of communication standards, the data may be rapidly interchanged by jurisdictions to improve the operational functions they are developed to serve. Through this exchange, driver and registration information will be available to assure the issuance of accurate licenses, registration, and titles. D20 is designed to facilitate continued coordination among data system developers. It is not intended or anticipated that any single user will incorporate all of the elements listed in this dictionary into a single system. However, for both new systems and for system modification, developers are encouraged to use data elements in the Dictionary whenever possible. D20 element definitions are used in:

• Electronic systems communicating Licensing, Titling, Registration and Motor Carrier information over AAMVAnet.
• Electronic systems outside AAMVA, such as the Model Impaired Driver Records Information System (MIDRIS)
• Other standard, such as the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) which utilize some of the definitions

Terminology and codes used in the Dictionary come from many sources. Wherever possible, standards approved by ANSI or issued as Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) have been used. For elements related to traffic accidents, many definitions are from the National Safety Council's Manual on Classification of Motor Vehicle Traffic Accidents (ANSI D16), and many codes are based on, or inspired by, the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) and other systems operated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Accident Record Data Dictionary for National Governors' Association (NGA) Motor Carrier Accident Data Elements have also been sources. Several elements related to the roadway environment are based on elements from the Federal Highway Administration's Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS). Finally the AAMVA repository of electronic data interchange applications used by of the Motor Vehicle Agencies in the U.S. and Canada for driver licensing, vehicle registration and titling, and motor carrier registration business have become a major source of new definitions.

History   

Currently the fifth edition of Traffic Records Systems, ANSI D20 is being prepared. While the content of the dictionary has expanded and evolved since it was first published in 1986, its usage has not changed.

The need for the D20 Data Element Dictionary for Traffics Records Systems was created by the Highway Safety Act of 1966, which required states receiving federal highway safety funds to develop better systems for collecting and processing data to be used in operating safety programs. Traffic Records in this context refer to records related to motor vehicle registration, driver licensing, highway design and operations, accidents, financial responsibility, motor vehicle inspection, commercial vehicle reciprocity, traffic law enforcement, emergency medical services, etc.

Under the leadership of AAMVA, several hundred persons from more than eighty public and private organizations on a D20 Parent Committee participated in compiling the dictionary. With funding and computer services provided by NHTSA and FHWA, the first edition of the dictionary was issued in 1979 as American National Standard ANSI D20-1979.

The D20 Parent Committee was dissolved and responsibility for the maintenance of the D20 dictionary was transferred to AAMVA’s Standing Committee on Motor Vehicle Information Systems (MVIS) after a 1984 ballot of the D20 Parent Committee. On May 6, 1986, MVIS formally submitted a request to ANSI that AAMVA be accredited as the sponsor charged with maintenance of the D20 Dictionary. ANSI notified AAMVA by letter of August 28, 1986, that the request was approved.

A second edition of D20 was approved on October 11, 1993 by the American National Standards Institute as ANSI Data Element Dictionary for Traffic Records Systems D20-1993. In the second edition, many data elements were updated for greater compatibility with current operating data systems.

The third edition was published in 1998 as the Data Element Dictionary for Traffic Records Systems, ANSI D20-1998. The third edition, D20-1998 synchronizes the Dictionary with the AAMVA data repository. The AAMVA repository was developed using as a source of reference, the different AAMVA Electronic Data Interchange applications used by the AAMVA community on a national basis. These applications encompass the driver licensing, vehicle registration and titling, and motor carrier registration business areas of the Departments of Motor Vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. It is important to note that most of these applications were initially developed using D20 as a reference. It is only when the data elements did not meet the application's exact requirements that new elements were created in the AAMVA repository.

The fourth edition was published in April 2003 as the Data Element Dictionary for Traffic Records Systems, ANSI D20-2003. This was a minor revision, it only contained a few updates, which were needed to keep some element definitions current with their revised uses.

ANSI Procedures 

This Standard is the product of a dynamic environment and it is expected that improvements to the Standard may be necessary on a regular basis. For this reason AAMVA applied for authority through the ANSI to maintain D20 through the “Continuous Maintenance” method, which allows new editions of the Dictionary to be produced. The standards established by ANSI are designed to promote the development of voluntary standards through consensus. The ANSI approved procedures used to maintain D20, they are described in the ANSI-D20 Development Procedures.

The procedures involve canvassing the users of the standard and other interested parties, to obtain a consensus on the content of D20. Please contact AAMVA if you are interested in participating in the canvass of the next or future releases of D20.

New Edition of D20 

A new edition of D20 will be developed in 2010. It will be a minor revision, containing updates which are needed to keep element definitions current with their revised uses. Updates are planned to support:

• the new requirements of CDLIS-Mod
• and any other applications which are revised.

Suggestions for improvement of the Dictionary are welcome. Please e-mail the suggestions to AAMVA.