CAR CHARACTERISTICS: THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO ACCIDENT RISK

In this investigation which sought to establish whether there is a relationship between handling characteristics of cars and their accident frequency, a detailed study is used to show that over 80 percent of loss of control accidents involve single vehicles only, so that the single vehicle accident rate should measure proneness to loss of control. The single vehicle accident rates are calculated for various models of car using the 1969 and 1970 data for Gt. Britain, together with the results of a mileage survey undertaken to determine the total annual mileage travelled by each model of car. It was shown that accident frequency is strongly, although not entirely, related to vehicle mileage. The differences in accident rates may be explained by variation between different models, the age and sex of drivers, and by differences in car characteristics. The effect of measures of steady state and transient response as well as basic design parameters on these accident rates is also discussed.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Proceedings of the Australian Road Research Board Seventh Conference Adelaide 1974.
• Corporate Authors:

  National Safety Council, Safety Research Info Serv

  425 North Michigan Avenue
  Chicago, IL  United States  60611
• Authors:
  • Jones, I S
• Publication Date: 1974

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 44 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Automated vehicle control; Automobiles by type; Crash rates; Drivers; Gender; Maneuverability; Single vehicle crashes; Steady state; Transient analyzers; Vehicle characteristics
• Uncontrolled Terms: Mileage; Transient response; Vehicle make
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00134664
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Paper #A106
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Jun 23 1976 12:00AM