The Safety of Right-Hand-Drive Vehicles in British Columbia

The number of older, right-hand drive vehicles on BC roads has been proliferating in the last few years. Imported vehicles over 15 years of age are exempt in Canada from complying with Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (CMVSS) applicable to their years of production. This has led to a developing market for older vehicles from countries such as Japan. But while mechanical inspections are carried out on such out-of-province vehicles before they can be registered in BC, vehicles from countries that drive on the left side of the road (such as Japan) retain their right-hand-drive (RHD) control configuration. The concern with these vehicles is two-fold: 1. Does the RHD configuration lead to increased risk of crash involvement? 2. Are these vehicles inferior in comparison with built-for-Canada vehicles of a similar age, with respect to occupant protection potential? Very few, if any, studies have been done in other jurisdictions to address issues around driving with opposite-side controls. Some studies have been conducted to examine vehicle age effects but these mainly relate to maintenance problems and the characteristics of drivers who operate older vehicles. Nothing in the literature directly addresses the issue currently being faced in BC. The study reported in this document was designed to fill the information gap referred to above. Three separate methodologies were utilized in approaching the two questions of vehicle compatibility with BC conditions: a relative risk analysis where RHD and LHD crash rates were compared for the same group of drivers; a “survival” analysis where time-to-first-crash was compared between RHD and LHD drivers: and a multiple regression model where RHD vehicle driver risk was compared to that of a similarly-constituted comparison group of LHD vehicle drivers. The results of all three analyses were consistent. RHD vehicles had a greater than 40% increased risk of crashing over that of similar LHD vehicles. And this level of risk was applicable over an extended period of time for policy-holders. This would suggest that it’s more than just an issue of driver unfamiliarity with RHD which should disappear in time. The incompatibility of the vehicle layout with the driver need to observe and manoeuvre in right-side traffic may cause ongoing difficulties. However, from the perspective of occupant protection, no evidence could be found to suggest that the RHD vehicles were inferior. Crashes involving RHD vehicles were no more severe than those involving LHD vehicles only. However, there was insufficient detail on vehicle usage characteristics to rule out the possibility of different driving purposes which could impact such things as speed.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.delica.ca/manuals/Satellite.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Insurance Corporation of British Columbia

  151 West Esplanade
  North Vancouver, BC V7M 3H9  Canada 
• Authors:
  • Cooper, Peter
  • Meckle, Wayne
  • Nasvadi, Glenyth
  • Wiggins, Sandi
• Publication Date: 2007-5-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash rates; Crash severity; Driving; Highway safety; Motor vehicles; Multiple regression analysis; Protection; Risk analysis; Survival; Traffic crashes; Traffic safety; Vehicle drive systems; Vehicle occupants; Vehicle safety
• Uncontrolled Terms: Left hand drive; Relative risk; Right hand drive
• Geographic Terms: British Columbia; Japan
• Subject Areas: Highways; Passenger Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; Vehicles and Equipment; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I90: Vehicles;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01076982
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Sep 28 2007 8:01AM