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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

COMPACT CAR ACCIDENT STUDY

A CONTINUOUS SURVEILLANCE WAS MADE OF COMPACT CAR INVOLVEMENT IN MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS ON THE NEW JERSEY GARDEN STATE PARKWAY--A LIMITED ACCESS SUPER HIGHWAY, FROM JANUARY 1968 TO JUNE 1969. A CLASSIFICATION WAS DEVELOPED BASED ON A VEHICLE'S WHEELBASE, WEIGHT, HEIGHT, AND TREAD WIDTH. THIS RESULTED IN A SIX-CLASS BREAKDOWN; CLASS I CONTAINED THE STANARD FULL-SIZE CARS; CLASS II THE SO-CALLED "INTERMEDIATES"; CLASSESIII, IV, AND V THE LARGE, MEDIUM AND SMALL COMPACTS; AND CLASS VI THE MINIATURE CARS. ROADWAY EXPOSURE WAS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT BY MEANS OF FOUR QUARTERLY SURVEYS OF ALL THE KINDS OF CARS USING THE PARKWAY. ACCIDENT EXPERIENCE WAS ACHIEVED BY MEANS OF STUDYING EACH OF THE ROUGHLY 2,500 ACCIDENTS THAT OCCURRED DURING 1968 AND THE FIRST HALF OF 1969. THE 1968 ROAD SURVEY REVEALED THAT CLASS I (STANDARD-SIZED) CARS CONSTITUTED ABOUT 65% OF ALL CARS USING THE PARKWAY, WHILE THE REMAINING 35% CONSISTED OF VARIOUS AMERICAN AND FOREIGN CARS. THE STANDARD-SIZE CARS INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS DURING 1968 WERE 76% OF ALL CARS IN ACCIDENTS, WHILE THE REMAINING 24% COMPACTS (CLASSES II-VI). THUS, CLASS I CARS WERE INVOLVED IN MORE THAN THEIR SHARE OF ACCIDENTS. INTERESTINGLY, THE ONE CLASS (V) OF COMPACTS THAT HAD SLIGHTLY MORE THAN ITS SHARE OF ACCIDENTS WAS THE CLASS CONTAINING THE VOLKSWAGEN AND KARMANN GHIA. THESE TWO CARS INDIVIDUALLY DID NOT HAVE MORE THAN THEIR SHARE OF ACCIDENTS. IT SHOULD BE POINTED OUT, HOWEVER, THAT THE MAJORITY OF ACCIDENTS ON THE PARKWAY ARE THE SIMPLE, REAR-END COLLISIONS, AND WITH THE VAST MAJORITY OF CARS ON THE ROAD BELONGING TO CLASS I, IT IS NOT SURPRISING THAT THE RAW NUMBERS OF CLASS I CARS IN ACCIDENTS ARE QUITE HIGH. SIGNIFICANTLY, IN SINGLE-CAR COLLISIONS INVOLVING LOSS OF CONTROL, CLASS I CARS FARED MUCH BETTER. ALTHOUGH ONLY 24% OF THE CARS INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS WERE COMPACTS, THESE CARS ACCOUNTED FOR 36.8% OF ALL INJURIES DURING 1968. COMPACTS ALSO ACCOUNTED FOR 36% OF THE IN-VEHICLE FATALITIES, 33.9% OF THE SERIOUS INJURIES, AND 29.5% OF THE MINOR INJURIES. DURING 1968, 10 DRIVERS OF STANDARD-SIZED CARS DIED IN ACCIDENTS AND 7 OF THE DRIVERS OF COMPACT CARS ALSO DIED IN ACCIDENTS. THIS IS DESPITE THE FACT THAT COMPACT CARS NUMBER ONLY ABOUT 35% OF THE CARS ON THE ROAD AND ONLY ABOUT A QUARTER OF ALL CARS IN ACCIDENTS WERE COMPACTS. DURING THE SAME PERIOD, 6 PASSENGERS OF STAND- SIZED CARS DIED IN ACCIDENTS COMPARED TO 3 FOR COMPACT CARS. THUS, 33.3% OF THE PASSENGER FATALITIES OCCURRED IN COMPACT CARS. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT OF THE 9 COMPACT-CAR FATALITIES, 5 OF THEM (3 DRIVERS AND 2 PASSENGERS) OCCURRED IN CLASS V CARS. THIS IS THE CLASS TO WHICH VOLKSWAGEN BELONGS, AND IT ACCOUNTED FOR 2 FATALITIES (ONE OF WHICH WAS IN A KARMANN GHIA). THE DATA FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 1969 HAVE BEEN INCLUDED, BUT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED TENTATIVE ONLY. SIX FATALITIES OCCURRED IN CLASS I CARS (3 DRIVERS AND 3 PASSENGERS), WHILE ONLY 1 FATALITY OCCURRED IN A COMPACT AS OF JUNE 30TH. HOWEVER, THE HEAVY VOLUME AND HIGH-ACCIDENT SUMMER MONTHS OF JULY AND AUGUST HAVE NOT YET BEEN TABULATED. THESE MONTHS ARE USUALLY BAD MONTHS FROM THE STANDPOINT OF FATALITIES, IT IS KNOWN THAT JULY, 1969 SET AN ALL-TIME RECORD NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS FOR ONE MONTH (234) AND THAT ONE SINGLE-CAR FATALITY DID OCCUR INVOLVING THE DEATH OF A VOLKSWAGEN DRIVER. APPROXIMATELY A QUARTER OF ALL CARS HAD THEIR ACCIDENTS ON SLIPPERY ROADS. ABOUT 25.5% OF THE STANDARD-SIZE CARS AND 27.7% OF THE COMPACT CARS HAD DIFFICULTY WITH SLIPPERY ROADS; VOLKSWAGEN HAD 27.0%. ON THE BASIS OF 1969 DATA, ONLY FOR DRIVERS AGE, 28.6% OF THE DRIVERS OF STANDARD-SIZE CARS ARE 25 YEARS OLD OR LESS, AND 39.2% ARE UNDER 30 YEARS. FOR COMPACTS, THE COMPARABLE FIGURES ARE 49.9% AND 61.7% RESPECTIVELY. FOR VOLKSWAGEN 50.6% OF ITS DRIVERS ARE 25 YEARS OLD OR LESS, AND 67.5% ARE UNDER 30 YEARS. AGAIN ON THE BASIS OF 1969 DATA ONLY, SLIGHTLY MORE THAN ONE THIRD OF ALL DRIVERS INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS ARE WEARING SEAT BELTS AT THE TIME. THE PERCENTAGE OF DRIVERS USING SEAT BELTS APPEARS TO BE 37.4% IN STANDARD SIZE CARS, 36.3% FOR COMPACTS AND 36.9% FOR VOLKSWAGEN. /AUTHOR/

  • Corporate Authors:

    City of Woodbridge, New Jersey

    Traffic Engineering Department
    Woodbridge, NJ  United States 
  • Authors:
    • Nelson, R
  • Publication Date: 1969-8-11

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00220893
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: 28 Tab
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Sep 14 1970 12:00AM