A REPORT ON THE ROAD ACCIDENT RESEARCH PROJECT TO THE SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL - TRANSPORT SAFETY - VOLUMES 1, 2, AND 3

THROUGH A SERIES OF GENERAL PAPERS, SOME OF THE TECHNIQUES USED IN THE INVESTIGATION OF ROAD ACCIDENTS AND SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ACCDENTS BASED ON THE PRESENT RESEARCH FINDINGS ARE DESCRIBED. THESE INCLUDE DETAILS OF SOME COMPARATIVE WORK PERFORMED ON DATA SIMILAR TO THE PRESENT PROJECT WHICH WERE OBTAINED IN OTHER COUNTRIES. A SHORT ACCOUNT OF POSSIBLE FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS IN CAR SAFETY TECHNOLOGY IS GIVEN. AT-THE- SCENE STUDIES ON SOME OF THE CAUSAL FACTORS THAT RELATE TO ROAD ACCIDENT OCCURRENCE ARE REPORTED ON PARTICULARLY VEHICLE AND ENVIRONMENTAL LIGHTING. THE RESEARCH INCLUDES A STUDY OF NORMAL DIRVING BEHAVIOR AT MOTORWAY INTERCHANGES AND AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTS OF CERTAIN TRANQUILIZERS, WITH OR WITHOUT SMALL AMOUNTS OF ALCOHOL, UPON THE PERFORMANCE OF LOW-SPEED DRIVING MANEUVERS. A PILOT STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN TO INVESTIGATE OBJECTIVE METHODS OF MEASURING STRESS ON MOTORWAY DRIVERS, USING HEART-RATE AS THE PRINCIPAL INDICE. THE CRASH PHASE OF ROAD ACCIDENTS IS DISCUSSED: THE DATA COLLECTED IN THE ORIGINAL AT-THE-SCENE STUDIES ARE COMBINED WITH ADDITIONAL CASES COLLECTED SINCE THE 1969 REPORT. A JOINT STUDY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE TWO TYPES OF WINDSCREEN GLASS CONDUCTED WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IS REPORTED ON, USING THESE DATA AND EQUIVALENT CASES FROM THE UNITED STATES. THIS STUDY IS THEN FURTHER AMPLIFIED AND THE RESULTS COMPARED WITH PREVIOUS FINDINGS IN THIS COUNTRY AND ELSEWHERE. AN ANALYSIS IS PERFORMED ON THE SERIOUS AND FATAL CASUALTIES IN THE BIRMINGHAM SAMPLE OF COLLISIONS IN ORDER TO EVALUATE THE RELATIVE MRITS OF LAP AND DIAGONAL SEAT BELTS IN COMPARISON TO AIRBAGS AS CURRENTLY PROPOSED. A MEANS OF CLASSIFYING VEHICLE DAMAGE SYSTEMATICALLY IS ALSO OUTLINED. USING AT-THE- SCENE DATA, ANALYSES HAVE BEEN MADE PARTICULARLY REFERRING TO THE BIOMECHANICS OF INJURIES SUSTAINED BY THESE ROAD USERS, SUCH AS CYCLISTS, MOTORCYCLISTS AND PEDESTRIANS. RECOMMENDATIONS ARE PUT FORWARD FOR THE MODIFICATION OF VEHICLE EXTERIOR DESIGN TO AMELIORATE THE INJURIES OT PEDESTRIANS IN PARTICULAR. /HSRI/

• Corporate Authors:

  Birmingham University

  ,   United Kingdom 
• Publication Date: 1972-3

Media Info

• Pagination: 429 p.
• Serial:
  • Issue Number: 42

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Crash investigation; Drivers; Fatalities; Injuries; Lighting; Manual safety belts; On the scene crash investigation; Traffic crashes; Travelers; Vehicle safety; Windshields
• Old TRIS Terms: Vehicular safety
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222094
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Research Institute
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 17 2000 12:00AM