TRAILER TOWING COMBINATION TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1971

THIS STUDY EXAMINES THE INVOLVEMENT OF TRAILER TOWING COMBINATIONS IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS AND DEFINES THE FACTORS AFFECTING THEIR SAFE OPERATION ON SOUTH CAROLINA HIGHWAYS. THE STUDY WAS LIMITED TO TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS OCCURRING IN 1971. REGISTRATION DATA ON UTILITY, BOAT, AND CAMPING TRAILERS WERE COLLECTED; AND TRAFFIC ACCIDENT REPORTS INVOLVING TRAILER TOWING COMBINATIONS WERE ANALYZED TO DETERMINE POTENTIAL SAFETY PROBLEMS. ON THE THREE CLASSES OF TRAILERS STUDIED, ONLY CAMPING TRAILERS ARE SUBJECT TO INSPECTION. APPROXIMATELY 20 PERCENT OF ALL TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS INVOLVING UTILITY AND BOAT TRAILER TOWING COMBINATIONS WERE ATTRIBUTED TO EQUIPMENT DEFECTS ON THE TRAILERS. HOWEVER, ONLY 5 PERCENT OF THE TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS INVOLVING CAMPING TRAILER TOWING COMBINATIONS WERE ATTRIBUTED TO EQUIPMENT DEFECTS. AN ANNUAL INSPECTION OF ALL TRAILERS, THEREFORE, SHOULD REDUCE TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS RESULTING FROM EQUIPMENT DEFECTS. HIGH RATES OF SPEED, IN COMBINATION WITH AERODYNAMIC FORCES, WERE FOUND TO PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS INVOLVING THE LOSS OF CONTROL OF CAMPING TRAILER TOWING COMBINATIONS. /HSRI/

• Corporate Authors:

  Clemson University

  Department of Civil Engineering
  Clemson, SC  United States  29634
• Authors:
  • Shepherd, W M
• Publication Date: 1972-8

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 48 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Boats; Camping; Defects; High speed ground transportation; High speed vehicles; Inspection; Motor vehicles; Speed; Towing devices; Traffic crashes; Trailers
• Subject Areas: Highways; Marine Transportation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223980
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Research Institute
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 8 1973 12:00AM