ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION IN URBAN AREAS

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration contracted with seven organizations to investigate certain types of accidents in select urban, suburban, and rural areas: 100% of the accidents involving a fatality or overnight hospitalization of a participant in the accident; 25% of the collisions that resulted in a participant requiring treatment at a hospital emergency room; and 10% of the collisions which involved no injury or an injury not requiring emergency medical treatment. In all accidents investigated, the passenger car involved in the accident had to be damaged severely enough to be towed from the scene. This "National Crashworthiness Severity Study," was designed to investigate various proposed accident severity measurements, such as delta "V", relative velocity, and absorbed energy; to determine the national cumulative distribution function of accident severity and fatal and injury accidents; to determine the relationship between accident severity and injury severity; to use data collection areas and sampling and investigation techniques that are prototypes for a National Accident Sampling System; to find the occupant contact points, intruding objects, or avenue for ejection involved in moderate and greater injuries; to obtain improved data on medical treatment needed and work days lost due to injuries; and to evaluate head restraints and side-door beams. Work of the team from Dynamic Science, Inc. (investigating accidents in the Los Angeles area) and the team from the University of Miami (investigating accidents in the Miami area) is discussed. Investigation procedures and techniques are given, as well as problems, such as safety risks to investigators.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/01487191
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Presented at the SAE Congress and Exposition, Detroit, 27 February-3 March 1978.
• Corporate Authors:

  Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

  400 Commonwealth Drive
  Warrendale, PA  United States  15096
• Authors:
  • BAIRD, J D
  • Didion, J
  • Hughes, R J
• Publication Date: 1978

Media Info

• Pagination: 12 p.
• Serial:
  • SAE Technical Paper
  • Publisher: Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
  • ISSN: 0148-7191
  • EISSN: 2688-3627
  • Serial URL: http://papers.sae.org/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash investigation; Crash reconstruction; Crash severity; Injuries; Urban areas
• Subject Areas: Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00395873
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: SAE 780429, HS-025 486U
• Files: HSL, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 31 1985 12:00AM