ACCIDENT FREQUENCY AS RELATED TO VEHICLE SIZE

A PILOT STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VEHICLE SIZE AND ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT WAS CONDUCTED, USING A SAMPLE OF NEARLY 9,000 REGISTERED OWNERS OF SELECTED SUBCOMPACT, COMPACT, AND FULLSIZE CARS IN CALIFORNIA. A MAIL QUESTIONNAIRE WAS UTILIZED, AND THE INFORMATION COLLECTED INCLUDED PERSONAL DATA, VEHICLE USAGE DATA, AND ACCIDENT EXPERIENCE OF THE VEHICLES BEING SURVEYED. THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY SUGGEST THAT THERE IS NO SYSTEMATIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SIZE OF VEHICLE AND FREQUENCY OF ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT, WHEN THE KNOWN EFFECTS OF AGE AND QUANTITATIVE EXPOSURE TO RISK ARE CONTROLLED FOR. MARKED DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSE RATE AMONG OWNERS OF THE DIFFERENT VEHICLE MAKES SUGGEST THAT THE STUDY RESULTS MUST BE REGARDED AS TENTATIVE PENDING DETAILED COMPARISON OF THE RESPONDENT SAMPLE WITH THE NONRESPONDENTS FOR EACH MAKE. AN OUTLINE IS PUT FORTH FOR A FULL-SCALE STUDY TO PROVIDE DEFINITIVE INFORMATION IN THIS IMPORTANT AREA. /HSL/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • UCLA-ENG-7261
• Corporate Authors:

  Itte, Calif Univ, Los Angeles

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Case, H W
  • BURG, A
  • BAIRD, J D
• Publication Date: 1972

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 49 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile ownership; Automobiles; Crash rates; Questionnaires; Size
• Old TRIS Terms: Automobile makes
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00224221
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Literature
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 15 1973 12:00AM