Data were obtained through a nine-year retrospective surveillance of 1719 traffic deaths among Allegheny County, PA residents. Death certificates and coroner's records were reviewed to validate cause-of-death certification. Mapping schemes were successful in linking 97% of the validated traffic deaths resulting from a crash within the Pittsburgh SMSA to computerized police accident data files. The results of this study demonstrated an improved method for the surveillance of alcohol- and other drugrelated motor vehicle traffic deaths. It validated cause-of-death certification and provided a linkage of confirmed traffic deaths to the police accident file, maximizing all available data.