ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION OF MAIL BOX CRASH TEST RESULTS

Vehicle collisions with mailboxes are a fairly common occurrence in rural areas. Usually, such impacts are minor, result in no injuries, and are sometimes not even reported. (Often, the striking vehicle doesn't even stop.) Eleven minicar/mailbox crash tests were conducted. As expected, in general, the heavier the mailbox installation, the greater the delta V and equivalent fixed barrier speed (or 'ebs'). The delta V's for the minicars ranged from 1.3 to 6.5 mph. The equivalent barrier speeds (speed based on energy absorbed by car damage, mailbox damage plus kinetic energy transferred to the mailbox) ranged from 12.5 to 27.8 mph. Results show that for the types of installations tested, ignoring a mailbox impact will cause a modest underestimation in vehicle initial speed.

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  3004 Charleton Court
  Waldorf, MD  United States  20602-2527
• Authors:
  • Craig, V
• Publication Date: 1996

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Tables;
• Pagination: p. 52-53
• Serial:
  • Accident Investigation Quarterly
  • Issue Number: 10
  • Publisher: Accident Reconstruction Journal
  • ISSN: 1082-6521

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash tests; Crashes; Mailboxes; Rural areas; Single vehicle crashes; Subcompact automobiles
• Old TRIS Terms: Rural accidents; Subcompact cars; Vehicle fixed object collisions
• Subject Areas: Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I80: Accident Studies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00723227
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 1 1996 12:00AM