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A STUDY OF VOLKSWAGEN ACCIDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES

DATA ARE BASED ON RURAL, INJURY-PRODUCING ACCIDENTS REPORTED THROUGH THE AUTOMOTIVE CRASH INJURY RESEARCH PROGRAM IN 30 STATES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. THE MAJORITY OF THE CARS STUDIED WERE MANUFACTURED PRIOR TO 1966. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS, BASED ON ACCIDENTS INVOLVING 879 VOLKSWAGEN CARS AND 26,673 OTHER CARS, ARE: DANGEROUS AND FATAL INJURIES ARE MORE FREQUENT AMONG THE OCCUPANTS OF VOLKSWAGEN AND OTHER SMALL CARS THAN AMONG THE OCCUPANTS OF LARGER CARS. CAR SIZE ALONE IS NOT THE MAJOR FACTOR, HOWEVER. EJECTION OF OCCUPANTS FROM THE VEHICLE WITH ITS INCREASED RISK OF SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH IS THE PRIMARY FACTOR: 40 PERCENT OF VOLKSWAGEN FATALITIES, AND 32 PERCENT OF THOSE INJURED TO A DANGEROUS DEGREE, WERE EJECTED FROM THE CAR. THE CORRESPONDING FIGURES FOR 1956 AND LATER MODEL U.S. CARS, EQUIPPED WITH INTERLOCKING SAFETY DOOR LATCHES, RANGED FROM 20 TO 33 PERCENT FOR FATALITY AND FROM 9 TO 21 PERCENT FOR DANGEROUS INJURIES. EXAMINATION OF SMALL SAMPLE OF AVAILABLE LATE MODEL VOLKSWAGENS WITH IMPROVED INTERLOCKING SAFETY DOOR LATCHES SUGGESTS THAT THESE LATCHES ARE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN EARLIER ONES. HOWEVER, MORE DATA ARE REQUIRED TO CONFIRM THIS OBSERVATION, STATISTICALLY. SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH DUE TO OCCUPANT EJECTION IS MORE CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH DOOR OPENING AND LATCH TYPE THAN WITH CAR SIZE. HOWEVER, CAR DOORS OPEN MORE FREQUENTLY IN ROLLOVER ACCIDENTS THAN IN COLLISION ACCIDENTS, AND THE FREQUENCY OF ROLLOVER INCREASES AS CAR SIZE DECREASES. IN PRINCIPAL ROLLOVER ACCIDENTS--ACCIDENTS WHERE MAJOR DAMAGE RESULTS FROM VEHICLE OVERTURN--DOOR OPENING IS LESS FREQUENT AMONG U.S. CARS EQUIPPED WITH SAFETY LATCHES THAN AMONG VOLKSWAGENS, MOST OTHER FOREIGN CARS, AND EARLIER U.S. MODELS WITHOUT SAFETY LATCHES. DOOR OPENING IS DEFINED IN TERMS OF ONE OR BOTH FRONT DOORS OPENING IN AN ACCIDENT. WHEN PRINCIPAL ROLLOVER ACCIDENTS OCCUR, DOOR OPENING IS TWICE AS FREQUENT FOR VOLKSWAGEN AS FOR CORVAIR, THE MOST NEARLY COMPARABLE U.S. CAR IN MANY RESPECTS. IN COLLISION ACCIDENTS, HOWEVER, THE FREQUENCY OF DOOR OPENING IS ONLY SLIGHTLY HIGHER FOR VOLKSWAGEN AND OTHER SMALL FOREIGN CARS THAN FOR THE LARGER U.S. CARS WITH SAFETY LATCHES; THIS TENDS TO HIGHLIGHT THE SENSITIVITY OF DOOR OPENING TO TYPE AND DIRECTION OF VEHICLE IMPACT. WHEN ROLLOVER ACCIDENTS OCCUR, TOP DAMAGE TO THE VOLKSWAGEN IS LESS SERVERE THAN TO LARGER CARS. THE DISTRIBUTION OF TOP DAMAGE DIFFERS AS WELL: VOLKSWAGEN, AND OTHER REAR ENGINE CARS SUSTAIN DAMAGE TO THE REAR AREA OF THE TOP MORE FREQUENTLY THAN TO THE FFRONT TOP AREA. WHILE THE CONVERSE IS OBSERVED FOR THE FRONT ENGINE CARS, PARTICULARLY FOR THE LARGER FRONT ENGINE U.S. CARS. ENGINE PLACEMENT AND CAR WEIGHT APPEAR TO BE SIGNIFICANT FACTORS IN DETERMINING THE AREA AND SEVERITY OF TOP DAMAGE. THE WEIGHT OF RESTRAINED CAR OCCUPANTS MUST BE CONSIDERED A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF TOP DAMAGE. THE MAJOR CAUSES OF INJURY IN VOLKSWAGEN WERE THE WINDSHIELD, UNIDENTIFIED INTERIOR STRUCTURES, EJECTION AND THE INSTRUMENT PANEL, IN THAT ORDER. VOLKSWAGEN HAS ONE OF THE LOWEST FREQUENCIES OF FIRE AFTER AN ACCIDENT OF ANY CAR STUDIED. /SRIS/

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • Rpt No: Vj-1823-R32 112 PP, 16 FIG, 50 TAB
  • Corporate Authors:

    Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, Incorporated

    4455 Genesee Street
    Buffalo, NY  United States  14221
  • Authors:
    • GARRETT, J W
    • Stern, A
  • Publication Date: 1968-11

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00220799
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Jun 22 1970 12:00AM