VEHICLE DAMAGE SCALE FOR TRAFFIC ACCIDENT INVESTIGATORS: AN INVESTIGATION OF ITS USE AND POTENTIAL FOR PREDICTING DRIVER INJURY

IN RECENT YEARS, MUCH ATTENTION HAS TURNED TO DEVISING A TOOL THAT MEASURES VEHICULAR DAMAGE AS AN ESTIMATION OF CRASH SEVERITY. VARIOUS INDICES AND SCALES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO ASSIST FIELD INVESTIGATOR AND RESEARCHERS. THE TRAFFIC ACCIDENT DATA PROJECT VEHICLE DAMAGE SCALE (TAD) IS AN EXAMPLE. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED THE DEGREE TO WHICH A STATE HIGHWAY PATROL UNIT WOULD REPORT VALID TAD VEHICLE DAMAGE RATINGS. IT ALSO EXPLORED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TAD SEVERITY RATINGS AND DEGREE OF DRIVER INJURY. SUCH A RELATIONSHIP WAS COMPARED TO OTHER CORRELATIONS. THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE HIGHWAY PATROL BEGAN USING THE TAD SCALE ON APRIL 1, 1971. THE REPORTS COVERING THE SIX MONTHS OF APRIL THROUGH SEPTEMBER COMPRISED THE DATA SET. IT WAS FOUND THAT 93 PERCENT OF THE ACCIDENT REPORTS INVOLVING PASSENGER CARS HAD AN ACCEPTABLE TAD RATING. THESE RATINGS CORRELATED .45 WITH DEGREE OF DRIVER INJURIES HIGHER THAN ANY OTHER ITEM ROUTINELY COLLECTED. THE DEGREE OF MULTIPLE CORRELATION BETWEEN A SELECTED NUMBER OF VARIABLES WITH AND WITHOUT TAD WAS ALSO COMPARED. THE DEGREE OF MULTIPLE CORRELATION WITHOUT TAD WAS .10. THIS WAS INCREASED TO .26 WHEN TAD WAS ADDED TO THE VARIABLE SET. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT THE TAD SCALE IS A USEFUL ESTIMATE OF CRASH SEVERITY AS WELL AS A CONTROL VARIABLE IN FUTURE RESEARCH.

• Corporate Authors:

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  Highway Safety Research Center
  Chapel Hill, NC  United States  27599
• Authors:
  • Vilardo, F J
• Publication Date: 1972-8

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 21 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobiles; Crash severity; Injuries; Loss and damage; Ratings; Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Motor vehicle accidents
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00224301
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 15 1973 12:00AM