The type of vehicle driven, according to characteristics such as weight and power/weight ratio is an important criteria in risk and severity analysis. Age and sex of the drivers are also factors to be taken into account. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of these criteria in crash involvement and severity, and their effects on different types of accidents. The accident data used are from 1991. The results show the over-risk of high-powered and light vehicles, taking into account the use made of them by their drivers. The analysis highlight the influence of the "vehicle / driver" combination. Young male drivers are more sensitive to the type of vehicle driven, both in terms of involvement in certain types of accidents and in terms of increase of severity with the performance of the vehicle driven.