A Dorset councillor says residents are being left confused by the county’s “two-tier” system for reporting road traffic accidents.
Councillor Simon Gibson, who represents Verwood, said the current system means some accidents must be reported to the police, while others should be reported to Dorset Council using its online form.
BCP Council, however, has no online accident reporting system.
He said a single, joined-up approach across the area would improve data quality and could lead to fewer accidents in the long run.
Police and Crime Commissioner David Sidwick agreed that better data is needed. He highlighted one village where several gates had been destroyed in crashes, but no injury incidents were officially recorded due to how the information is collected.
“Better collection and sharing of road traffic data can only help to drive down deaths and serious injuries,” he said.
He added that improvements were needed not just with Dorset Council, but also with BCP Council and the police, and promised to look into how the process could be improved.