SMALL CARS SHOW HIGHER CRASH RATES THAN LARGE CARS

The results of this study indicates that smaller cars, especially newer models, are more likely to be involved in a reportable crash than larger cars. This two-year study is one of the few to include calculations of crash rates for specific makes and models, based on vehicle miles of travel. The crash involvement and injury rates that were compared included a single vehicle rate, an overall crash rate, an overall injury rate, and vehicle severity rate. For standard-sized automobiles considered, the hardtops and two-door cars had higher accident rates than either sedans or station wagons. All of the data showed a decrease in mileage with increasing vehicle age. For recent models, station wagons had higher mileage than sedans or hard tops. Other small cars had considerably higher mileage than older cars. For newer models, the full-sized cars had somewhat higher annual mileage than middle-sized cars.

• Corporate Authors:

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  Highway Safety Research Center
  Chapel Hill, NC  United States  27599
• Publication Date: 1977-5

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; Tables;
• Pagination: 4 p.
• Serial:
  • Highway Safety Highlights
  • Volume: 10
  • Issue Number: 12
  • Publisher: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Compact automobiles; Crash severity; Data analysis; Injuries; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; Passenger cars; Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Mileage; Models; Motor vehicle accidents
• Old TRIS Terms: Automobile makes; Sedan; Small car
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00167484
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 18 1978 12:00AM