DOUBLE PAIR COMPARISON - A NEW METHOD TO DETERMINE HOW OCCUPANT CHARACTERISTICS AFFECT FATALITY RISK IN TRAFFIC CRASHES

A new method to determine how occupant characteristics affect fatality risk in traffic crashes is developed. The method, which uses data from the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS), focuses on two occupants, a 'subject' occupant and an 'other' occupant. The probabilities of a fatality to the subject occupant when that occupant has one of two characteristics are compared. The other occupant serves essentially a normalizing, or exposure estimating, role. The method uses only fatality frequency data - no external exposure information is required, and it is relatively free from uncertain assumptions. It has wide applicability; examples of potential applications include investigating car occupant fatlality risk as a function of sex, age, alcohol use, or motorcyclist fatality risk as a function of helmet use. The first application is to determine the effectiveness of safety belts in preventing car occupant fatalities as described in the paper following this paper.

  • Availability:
  • Corporate Authors:

    Pergamon Press, Incorporated

    Headington Hill Hall
    Oxford OX30BW,    
  • Authors:
    • Evans, Leonard
  • Publication Date: 1986-6

Media Info

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00495923
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  • Report/Paper Numbers: HS-039 946
  • Files: HSL, USDOT
  • Created Date: Aug 31 1990 12:00AM