The Risk of Injury and Vehicle Damage Severity in Vehicle Mismatched Side Impact Crashes in British Columbia

This article describes the disproportionate damage-levels between passenger sedan cars and pick-up trucks due to the latter’s higher ride height, greater weight, and stiffer structure. This description is predominately conducted through economic terms in potential years of life lost in British Columbia with the specific side impact crash type being highlighted. As Canada has estimated that about 1.7 billion dollars are lost annually in total economic damage due to motor vehicle accidents, the economic priority in terms of human capital (aside from hospital and infrastructure costs) is a priority for research. The damage caused in crashes where the odds ratio is too unevenly distributed is a greater economic loss than that in crashes where the odds are more evenly distributed. This article, through its two case study examples from British Columbia, promotes the encouragement by governing bodies toward smaller, less dangerous (albeit still highly crashworthy) vehicles in order to curb the increasing rates of motor vehicle fatalities, which are predicted to be as high as the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03861112
• Authors:
  • Desapriya, Ediriweera
  • Pike, Ian
  • Kinney, Jacqueline
• Publication Date: 2005

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 60-66
• Serial:
  • IATSS Research
  • Volume: 29
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences
  • ISSN: 0386-1112

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Fatalities; Motor vehicles; Risk analysis; Side crashes; Vehicle size
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01018538
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
• Files: BTRIS, TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 17 2006 1:22PM