Use of car crashes resulting in injuries to identify system weaknesses

Stigson, Helena; Kullgren, Anders; Krafft, Maria

Affiliations

²Department of Applied Mechanics, Vehicle Safety Division, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden

³Division of Surgery, Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

Abstract

The objective was to identify system weaknesses and components (road user, vehicles, and road) where improvements would yield the highest potential for further reductions in car occupant injuries. The study also aimed to evaluate whether it is a difference in type of improvements due to injury severity (fatally injured, Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale 2+ injury outcomes and injury leading to permanent medical impairment). Three different data sets of real-life car crashes were used; In-depth fatal crash data of the Swedish Transport Administration (n=248), in-depth crash injury data collected by the UK On The Spot (OTS) accident investigation project (n=120) and the Swedish database STRADA including police reported and hospital-registered injuries (n=451). All crashes were classified according to the vehicle’s safety rating by Euro NCAP (European New Car Assessment Programme) and whether the vehicle was fitted with ESC (Electronic Stability Control) and had some kind of defined whiplash protection systems. For each crash, the road was also classified according to EuroRAP (European Road Assessment Programme) criteria, and human behavior in terms of speeding, seat belt use, and driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs. Most of the crashes occurred when two or all three components interacted (in 40% of the total number of cases). In total, the noncompliance with the vehicle safety criteria was judged to influence the injury outcome more often in car crashes with serious injury outcomes or where the occupants sustained injuries leading to permanent medical impairment than in crashes including fatally injured only. The road standard was the one of the three components that was most often linked to a fatal outcome. Injury outcomes, irrespective of severity, were mostly related to an interaction between the three components: the road, the vehicle, and the road user. However, the significance of the components differs depending on crash severity. The vehicle’s safety is the most important component to reduce serious injury outcomes and injuries leading to permanent medical impairment. In fatal crashes improvements to the road would yield the highest potential for further reductions of car occupant injuries.

Links

URL: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv22/22ESV-000338.pdf

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