HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRESS AS REFLECTED IN ACCIDENT DATA

RECENT STATISTICS OF FATALITIES ARE COMPARED WITH THOSE OF 1966 AND ARE CONSIDERED TO REFLECT THE USE OF SUCH MEASURES AS THE ENERGY-ABSORBING STEERING COLUMN, HIGH PENETRATION WINDSHIELD GLASS AND THE LAP-SHOULDER BELTS. THERE IS A LACK OF ADEQUATE MEASURES AND LACK OF PRACTITIONERS OF THE SCIENCE OF ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INDIVIDUAL SAFETY SYSTEMS ARE DISCUSSED AND THE OBSERVATION IS MADE THAT ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPRESSION ON MASS ACCIDENT DATA OF A SINGLE SAFETY DEVICE WOULD BE DIFFICULT BECAUSE THAT DEVICE IS USUALLY DIRECTED AT PROTECTING A SINGLE PERSON. IT HAS BEEN POSTULATED THAT AT THE CURRENT RATE OF GROWTH IN VEHICLE POPULATION, ANY NEW SAFETY ADVANCE OR GROUP OF ADVANCES MUST BE CAPABLE OF REDUCING THE PROBABILITY OF INJURY RESULTING FROM AN ACCIDENT BY AT LEAST 10% OR MORE TO SHOW A MEASURABLE REDUCTION IN NATIONAL FATALITY STATISTICS. SAFETY VALUES OF SPECIFIC SAFETY DEVICES ARE PRESENTED AS PERCENTAGES AND THE DIFFERENCES IN OCCUPANT INJURY RISK BETWEEN "OLD" AND "NEW" VEHICLES ARE DISCUSSED. THREE WEAKNESSES IN THE CURRENT ACCIDENT DATA GATHERING PROCESS ARE DETAILED. GOOD ACCIDENT DATA WILL ENABLE DEFINITIVE COST-BENEFIT STUDIES TO BE MADE AND ALSO ASSESS THE VALUE OF SUCH PROGRAMS AS DRIVER EDUCATION, AND VEHICLE INSPECTION. LEGISLATORY RECOMMENDATIONS ARE MADE REGARDING LAP-SHOULDER BELTS, DRIVER PROBLEMS, VEHICLE SYSTEMS, ROAD SYSTEM DESIGN AND TRAFFIC CONTROL.

• Corporate Authors:

  General Motors Corporation

  Warren, MI  United States  48090
• Authors:
  • Lundstrom, L C
  • Yanik, A J
• Publication Date: 1973-6

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 11 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash investigation; Highway safety; Injuries; Manual safety belts; Safety equipment; Steering gears; Windshields
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222249
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 17 1973 12:00AM