BENCHMARK ESTIMATES OF RELEASE ACCIDENT RATES IN HAZARDOUS MATERIALS TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL AND TRUCK (WITH DISCUSSION AND CLOSURE)

Consistent, reliable estimates of release accident rates are essential when using risk assessment to compare the safety of rail and truck for a given shipment of hazardous materials. The estimates that appear in the literature have shortcomings or inconsistencies that make it difficult, if not impossible, to perform such a comparison. Yet claims are made that one transport mode is safer than the other, and risk assessors are using estimated accident rates that are out of date or inaccurate. This paper derives benchmark estimates of release accident rates for the two modes using Department of Transportation (DOT) incident reports to count the number of release accidents in 1982, and official statistics of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and the Census Bureau to evaluate the level of exposure to release accidents in that year. In addition to providing useful reference data for future risk assessments, the results show that there can be no general answer to the question of which mode is safer, since it depends on the release accident rate (which varies with release severity, carrier type, vehicle type, and track or road type) and such other factors as the size and design of the containers used.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1988/1193/1193-003.pdf
• Record URL:
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1193, Transportation of Hazardous Materials 1988. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Glickman, Theodore S
• Discussers:
  • Abkowitz, Mark
• Publication Date: 1988

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 22-28
• Monograph Title: Transportation of hazardous materials, 1988
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1193
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benchmarks; Crash exposure; Crash rates; Estimates; Hazardous materials; Highway transportation; Railroad transportation; Risk assessment; Safety; Trucks
• Subject Areas: Highways; Motor Carriers; Planning and Forecasting; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00488685
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309047641
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Oct 31 1989 12:00AM