Rating the aggressivity of Australian passenger vehicles towards other vehicle occupants and unprotectedroadusers

Cameron, Max; Newstead, Stuart; Le, Chau My

Since 1990, Monash University Accident Research Centre has conducted a series of studies to provide consumer advice on the crashworthiness of individual makes and models of Australian passenger cars. Crashworthiness has been defined as the relative safety of a vehicle in preventing severe injury to its driver when involved in a crash. A concept complementary to crashworthiness is vehicle aggressivity. Aggressivity can be defined as the risk of injury which a vehicle poses to occupants of other vehicles which it impacts, and to unprotected road users such as pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists.

This paper describes the development of aggressivity ratings for Australian passenger vehicles. Two measures have been considered:

Aggressivity to occupants of other cars : This type of aggressivity rating is based on two-car crashes between passenger vehicles and measures the injury risk each make/model in the collisions poses to the drivers of the other vehicles.
Aggressivity to unprotected road users : The aggressivity ratings reflect the threat of severe injury to pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists by the make/model of vehicle colliding with them.

The analysis was based on nearly 102,000 drivers involved in tow-away crashes with the makes/models which were the focus of the study, and on nearly 22,000 injured pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists. The aggressivity ratings are presented and discussed, along with their relationship to crashworthiness ratings for the same makes and models of vehicles. The results suggest that crashworthiness and aggressivity are two different aspects of a vehicle’s safety performance, with good performance on one dimension not necessarily being associated with good performance on the other.

Year

Entry

1992

Cameron M, Mach T, Neiger D, Graham A, Ramsay R, Pappas M, Haley J. Vehicle crashworthiness ratings in Australia. In: Proceedings of the 1992 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 9-11, 1992; Verona, Italy.105-117.

1995

Cameron M, Finch C, Newstead S, Le T, Graham A, Griffiths M, Pappas M, Haley J. Measuring crashworthiness: make/model ratings and the influence of Australian design rules for motor vehicle safety. In: Proceedings of the 1995 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 13-15, 1995; Brunnen, Switzerland.297-310.

1996

Cameron M, Newstead S, Skalova M. The development of vehicle crashworthiness ratings in Australia. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 13-16, 1996; Melbourne, Australia.1444-1457.

1996

Hollowell WT, Gabler HC. NHTSA’s vehicle aggressivity and compatibility research program. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 13-16, 1996; Melbourne, Australia.576-592.

1997

Newstead S, Cameron M, Le CM. Vehicle Crashworthiness Ratings and Crashworthiness by Year of Vehicle Manufacture: Victoria and NSW Crashes During 1987-95. Melbourne, Australia: Monash University Accident Research Centre; March 1997. Report No. 107.