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The GIDAS-investigation team of Dresden (VUFO) has documented more than 11.500 accidents since 1999. The documentation of the accident includes beside vehicle-, injury- and environmental-data very detailed reconstruction data. Within this accident investigation the VUFO began to record the skid resistance of the accident site in 2009. The measurements are divided in macro- and microroughness (Sand depth method and Portable Skid Resistance Tester-SRT-by Munro-Stanley London-©). Both methods are used to determine the skid resistance for more than 1000 passenger cars. The aim of the present study is to find out a relationship between the measured skid resistance, the road conditions and the friction coefficient, which is used to calculate the maximum accelerations and decelerations during a reconstruction of an accident. Basic approach to convert the SRT-value into the friction coefficient is the calculation of the theoretical absorbed energy of the spring rubber system of the swinging arm of lever. This absorbed energy is used to get the friction coefficient by using the equations for the work of friction. To consider the road-behavior, in correlation to the friction coefficient, the results will be merged with existing literature. Last step for this study will be a comparison between actual used friction coefficients all over the GIDAS-database and the theoretical results. The study shows, if it is possible to use the SRT-Measurement for the estimation of a friction coefficient for the reconstruction of a traffic accident. As expected, the GIDAS-Database and the additional measurement of the roughness of the road directly on the spot are an enormous useful dataset.
The grip between the road surface and vehicle tires is the physical basis for the moving of all vehicles in road traffic. In case of an accident the available grip level is one of the most relevant influence factors, influencing the causation and the procedure of the accident. However, the estimation of the grip level is not easy and therefore, is commonly not done on the accident scene. This is especially true for the measurement of the water depth. Until now, real accident databases provide no measurement data about the grip level and the water film depth and thus, the estimation of its influence is not possible yet. From the tyre manufacturers point of view, it is important to know about the road conditions (namely grip level, macro-texture, water depth, temperature) at the accident scene, as well as the operating conditions of the vehicles (braking, loss of control, speed, etc). These data is necessary to define relevant tyre traction tests for the end-user and for regulations. For this reason VUFO and Michelin developed a consistent method for the measurements of grip level and water depth for the accidents of the GIDAS database. The accident research team of Dresden, which documents about 1000 accidents with at least one injured person every year, is measuring the micro-roughness and the macro-roughness directly on the spot. For the measurement of the micro-roughness a Skid Resistance Tester (British Pendulum) is used. The Mean Texture Depth (describing the macro-roughness) is measured by the Sand Depth Method. Since June 2009, measurements for more than 700 accidents including 1200 participants have been carried out. In case of wet or damp road conditions during the accident, the water depth is measured additionally. Therefore VUFO and Michelin developed a special measurement device, which allows measurements with an accuracy of 1/10 millimetre. The measurement point at the accident scene is clearly defined and thus, the results are comparable for all different accidents and participants. The use of the GIDAS database and the accident sampling plan allows representative statements for the German accident scenario. With this data it is possible for the first time to have an accurate view of the road conditions at the accident scene. One possibility is a more detailed estimation of hydroplaning accidents using the actually measured water depths. The development of new testing methods and new tires can be based on the real situation of the road infrastructure. Furthermore, the combination of the technical GIDAS data and the measured road surface properties can also be used for the estimation of effectiveness of several safety systems like the brake assist and/or emergency braking systems. The calculation of a reduced collision speed due to the use of a brake assist is only one example for the application of real measured grip level data.
Having a look at safety to traffic and the prevention of accidents it can be observed that technical improvements in active safety of vehicles have let to various positive effects in this area. Among other components the tyre-road-contact takes a key role in the development of active safety technologies. All forces in accelerating, breaking and vehicle guidance have to be transmitted through the tyre-road contact area by friction forces. A common way to characterize a friction process is to identify the coefficient of friction μ between two touching materials. Even though there are several approaches to experimentially characterise road surfaces, no standard method exists. In this paper an overview of existing test methods is given. Furthermore the preliminary design of a newly developed portable test device with its possibility to investigate the tyre-road-friction of arbitrary roads or even places of accidents is shown.
The main objective of EC CASPER research project is to reduce fatalities and injuries of children travelling in cars. Accidents involving children were investigated, modelling of human being and tools for dummies were advanced, a survey for the diagnosis of child safety was carried out and demands and applications were analysed. From the many research tasks of the CASPER project, the intention of this paper is to address the following: • In-depth investigation of accidents and accident reconstruction. These will provide important points for the injury risk curve, in order to improve it. Different accident investigation teams collected data from real road accidents, involving child car passengers, in five different European countries. Then, a selection of the most appropriate cases for the injury risk curve and the purposes of the project was made for an in-depth analysis. The final stage of this analysis was to conduct an accident reconstruction to validate the results obtained. The in-depth analysis included on-scene accident investigation, creating virtual simulations of the accident/possible reconstruction, and conducting the reconstruction. In the cases of successful reconstructions, new points were introduced to the injury risk curves. Accident reconstructions of selected cases were carried out in test laboratories as the next step following in-depth road accident investigation. These cases were reconstructed using similar child restraint systems (CRS) and the same type make and model as in the real accidents. Reconstructing real cases has several limitations, such as crash angle, cars" approximation paths and crash speed. However, a few changes and applications on the testing conditions were applied to reduce the limitations and improved the representations of the real accidents. After conducting the reconstructions, a comparison between the deformations of the cars on the real accident and the vehicles from the reconstructions was made. Additionally, a correlation between the data captured from the dummies and the injury data from the real accident was sought. This finalises an in-depth analysis of the accident, which will provide new relevant points to the injury risk curve. The CASPER project conducted a large research programme on child safety. On technical points, a promising research area is the developing injury risk curves as a result of in-depth accident investigations and reconstructions. This abstract was written whilst the project was not yet finished and final results are not yet known, but they will be available by the time of the conference. All the works and findings will not necessarily be integrated in the industrial versions of evaluation tools as the CASPER project is a research program.
The sequence of accident events can be classified by three essential phases, the pre-crash-sequence, the crash-sequence and the post-crash-sequence. The level of reliability of the information in the GIDAS-database (German In Depth Accident Study) is provided predominantly on the passive side. The period to evaluate active safety systems begins already in the pre-crash-sequence. The assessment of the potential of sensor- or communication-based active safety systems can only be accomplished by a detailed analysis of the pre-crash-phase. Hence the necessity to analyze the early period of the accident event in detail arises. This is possible with the help of the digital sketches of the accident site and the simulation of the accident by a simulation method of the VUFO GmbH. After simulating the pre-crash scenario it is possible to generate additional and standardized data to describe the pre-crash-sequences of an accident in a very high detail. These data are documented in a second database called the GIDAS Pre-Crash-Matrix (PCM). The PCM contains various tables with all relevant data to reproduce the pre-crash-sequence of traffic accidents from the GIDAS database until 5 seconds before the first collision. This includes parameters to describe the environment data, participant data and motion or dynamic data. This paper explains the creation of the PCM, the simulation itself and the contents and structure of the PCM. With this information of the pre-crash-sequence for various accident scenarios an improved benefit estimation and development of active safety systems can be made possible.
The number of injured car occupants decreases constantly. Nevertheless, they account for nearly 50% of all fatalities and about 44% of all seriously injured persons in German traffic accidents. Further reductions of casualties require multiple efforts in all parts of traffic safety. In this paper a detailed analysis of the important pre-hospital rescue phase was done. The basis for future improvements is the knowledge about injury causation of car occupants in combination with other corresponding influence factors. For that reason more than 1.200 severe (AIS3+) injuries of frontal car occupants were analyzed. For the most relevant injuries of car occupants multivariate analysis models were created to predict the probability of these injuries in a real crash scenario. In addition to the collision severity different influence factors like impact direction, seat belt usage, age of the occupant, and gender were analyzed. Furthermore, the models were checked regarding the goodness of fit and all results all results were checked concerning their robustness. The prediction models were created on the basis of 5.000 car accidents. Afterwards, the models were validated using 4.000 different car accidents. The prediction of the probability of severe injuries could be used for different applications in the field of traffic safety. One possibility is the implementation of the models in a tool for the on-the-spot diagnosis. The background for the development of such applications is the fact, that there are only limited diagnostic possibilities available at the accident scene. Nevertheless, the rescue forces have to make essential decisions like the alerting of the necessary medical experts, appropriate treatment, the type of transportation and the choice of an adequate hospital. These decisions quite often decide between life and death or influence the long-term effects of injured persons. At this point, indications of expectable injuries could help enormously. To enable even persons with limited technical knowledge to use the tool, a procedure was developed that facilitates the assumption of the given crash severity. Another important possibility for the application of the prediction models is the use for the qualification of information sent by e-call systems.
In 2012 the fifth ESAR conference (Expert Symposium on Accident Research) was held in Hannover. ESAR is an international convention of experts, who analyze traffic accidents all over the world and discuss their results in this context, conducted at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover every 2 years. It connected representatives of public authorities, engineers in automotive development and scientists and offers a forum with particular emphasis on In-Depth-Analyses of accident statistics and accident analyses. Special focus is placed on research on the basis of so-called "In-Depth-Accident-Investigations" [data collections at the sites of the accidents], which are characterized by extensive documentations of the sites of the accidents, of the vehicles as well as of the injuries, encompassing several scientific fields. ESAR aims at a multi-disciplinary compilation of scientific results and at discussing them on an international, scientific level. It is thus a scientific colloquium and a platform for exchanging information for all accident researchers. Experiences in accident prevention as well as in the complex field of accident reconstruction are stated and new research fields are added. Existing results of long-term research work in Europe, the US, Australia and Japan include different infrastructural correlations and give findings on population, vehicle population and driver characteristics, which offer a basis for recommendations to be derived and measures for increasing road safety.
Injuries in motorbike accidents in correlation with protective clothes and mechanism of the accident
(2013)
This study deals with a possible connection between safety clothing / accident mechanism and injury severity in a state-wide traffic accident investigation with focus on light and small motorbike-involvement for accidents in the area of the Saarland in which the persons riding the bike have been injured or killed. An interdisciplinary team of medical scientists and engineers collected the medical and technical data as well as all the relevant traces of the accident on scene and in time. During twenty months of data collection a total of 401 cases could be gathered. Grave injuries were more common for the group of heavier motorcycles (>125 ccm). Motorcyclists had been polytraumatized only in the group where the accident was connected with a collision. Significant correlation between protective clothes and injury severity could only be found for protective gloves and protective trousers. The knowledge about mechanism of the accident, protective clothes and severity of injuries can be helpful for the improvement of road and motorcyclists' safety.
Im Jahr 2004 fand an der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover die erste ESAR-Konferenz (Expert Symposium on Accident Research) statt. Die Idee einer internationalen Konferenz war aus der Notwendigkeit entstanden, diejenigen Experten zusammen zu bringen, die weltweit tätig sind und Verkehrsunfälle wissenschaftlich analysieren, um ihre Ergebnisse gemeinsam zu diskutieren und einem Zielpublikum von Behördenvertretern, Entwicklungsingenieuren der Automobilindustrie und anderen Wissenschaftlern darzubringen. Die durch Professor Otte initiierte und nun zum vierten Male organisierte Konferenz fand eine breite Akzeptanz und ist mittlerweile Bestandteil einer Konferenzlandschaft mit Zielvorträgen von der Fahrzeugsicherheit bis hin zur Verletzungsanalyse und den Unfallursachen. ESAR kann als wissenschaftliches Kolloquium und Plattform für einen Informationsaustausch der Unfallforscher angesehen werden, die sich speziell mit Methoden der Unfalluntersuchung, mit Verletzungsmechanismen und der Bewertung von Verletzungen, Unfallursachen und anderen Bereichen der statistischen Unfalldatenanalyse befassen. Experten aus den Bereichen der Medizin, der Verkehrspsychologie und der Technik sowie Vertreter zuständiger Behörden kommen hier zusammen, um die Erfahrungen in der Unfallprävention und der Unfallrekonstruktion zu diskutieren und um der Forschung neue Felder zu eröffnen. Neben den Belangen der Europäischen Gemeinschaft werden auch die weltweit zu registrierenden hohen Verletztenzahlen berücksichtigt. Wissenschaftliche Vorträge aus aller Welt tragen dazu bei, geeignete Maßnahmen und Methoden zur Analyse und drastischen Verringerung der Zahl der bei Verkehrsunfällen Getöteten zu entwickeln. Die Zusammensetzung des Teilnehmerkreises dieser wie früherer ESAR-Konferenzen hat längst eine über Europa hinausgreifende Internationalitaet erreicht und bietet daher einen aufschlussreichen Überblick über die verschiedenen Standards bestehender Verkehrssicherheit und unterschiedlichen Unfallszenarien und über die Anforderungen an die Unfallanalysen. Die Ergebnisse langjähriger Forschungsarbeiten in Europa, USA, Australien und asiatischen Ländern beinhalten unterschiedliche infrastrukturelle Zusammenhänge und geben Erkenntnisse über Population, Fahrzeugbestand und Fahrereigenschaften. Derartige Informationen bilden eine exzellente Basis für abzuleitende Empfehlungen und Maßnahmen für die Erhöhung der Verkehrssicherheit international.
Causation patterns and data collection blind spots for fatal intersection accidents in Norway
(2010)
Norwegian fatal intersection accidents from the years 2005-2007 were analysed to identify any causation patterns among their underlying contributing factors, and also to evaluate whether the data collection and documentation procedures used by the Norwegian in-depth investigation teams produces the information necessary to perform causation pattern analysis. A total of 28 fatal accidents were analysed. Details on crash contributing factors for each driver in each crash were first coded using the Driving Reliability and Error Analysis Method (DREAM), and then aggregated based on whether the driver was going straight or turning. Analysis results indicate that turning drivers to a large extent are faced with perception difficulties and unexpected behaviour from the primary conflict vehicle, while at the same time trying to negotiate a demanding traffic situation. Drivers going straight on the other hand have less perception difficulties. Instead, their main problem is that they largely expect turning drivers to yield. When this assumption is violated, they are either slow to react or do not react at all. Contributing factors often pointed to in literature, e.g. high speed, drugs and/or alcohol and inadequate driver training, played a role in 12 of 28 accidents. While this confirms their prevalence, it also indicates that most drivers end up in these situations due to combinations of less auspicious contributing factors. In terms of data collection and documentation, information on blunt end factors (those more distant in time/space, yet important for the development of events) was more limited than information on sharp end factors (those close in time/space to the crash). A possible explanation is that analysts may view some blunt end factors as event circumstances rather than contributing factors in themselves, and therefore do not report them. There was also an asymmetry in terms of reported obstructions to view due to signposts and vegetation. While frequently reported as contributing for turning drivers, they were rarely reported as contributing for their counterparts in the same accidents. This probably reflects an involuntary focus of the analyst on identifying contributing factors for the driver legally held liable, while less attention is paid to the driver judged not at fault. Since who to blame often is irrelevant from a countermeasure development point of view, this underlying investigator mindset needs addressing to avoid future bias in crash investigation reports.
Accidents with vulnerable road users require special attention within the road safety work because these accidents are often accompanied with severe injuries. Thus In 2006 at least 6200 Powered Two Wheeler (PTW) riders were killed in road crashes in the EU 25 representing 16% of the total number of road deaths while accounting for only 2% of the total kilometers driven. For the prevention of accidents with VRU above all the knowledge of the causes of the accidents is of special importance. This study is based on the methodology of the German In-Depth Accident Study GIDAS. Within GIDAS extensive data on various fields of accidentology are collected on-scene from road traffic accidents with injuries in the Hannover and Dresden area. Using a well defined sample plan the collected data is highly representative to the whole German situation (Brühning et al, Otte et al). The need of in-depth accident causation data in accident research led to the development of a special tool for the collection of such data called ACASS (Accident Causation Analysis with Seven Steps), which was implemented in the GIDAS methodology in 2008 and described by Otte in 2009.
The Centre for Automotive Safety Research (formerly the Road Accident Research Unit) at the University of Adelaide in South Australia has a history of in-depth crash investigation going back to the 1970s. In recent years, our focus has been on studying factors that contribute to road crashes, with an emphasis on the role of road infrastructure. Our method involves crash notification by the South Australian Ambulance Service and detailed investigation of the crash scene usually before the crash-involved vehicles have been moved. This at-scene data collection is supplemented with police crash reports, Coroner- reports including autopsy findings for fatal crashes, case notes from hospitals for all injured persons, structured interviews with crash participants and witnesses, and computerised reconstruction of the events of the crash. One of the most notable research findings to emerge from our in-depth work has been the relationship between travelling speed and the risk of crash involvement. By comparing the calculated free speeds of crash-involved vehicles (cases) with the measured speeds of non-crash-involved vehicles travelling on the same roads at the same time of day (controls), we were able to establish that an exponential relationship exists between travelling speed and the likelihood of involvement in a casualty crash. This was the case for both metropolitan and rural areas. This research prompted the reduction of some speed limits in Australia, which has resulted in notable decreases in crash numbers. Another finding of interest in our recent investigation of 298 mostly daytime crashes in metropolitan Adelaide was that medical conditions make a sizeable contribution to the occurrence of road crashes. We found that almost half of the drivers, riders and pedestrians involved in the collisions had at least one pre-existing medical condition, and half of these individuals had two or more such conditions. We found that a medical condition was the direct causal factor in 13% of the casualty crashes investigated and accounted for 23% of all hospital admission or fatal crash outcomes. A follow-up study of all hospital admissions for road crashes in Adelaide is now going ahead to look further at this problem. The paper also describes studies looking specifically at pedestrian crashes. These include studies of the relationship between travelling speed and the risk of a fatal pedestrian crash, and studies utilising real crash data to validate headforms and test dummies used in the assessment of the safety of new vehicles in the event of a collision with a pedestrian.
Bicyclists are minimally or unprotected road users. Their vulnerability results in a high injury risk despite their relatively low own speed. However, the actual injury situation of bicyclists has not been investigated very well so far. The purpose of this study was to analyze the actual injury situation of bicyclists in Germany to create a basis for effective preventive measures. Technical and medical data were prospectively collected shortly after the accident at the accident scenes and medical institutions providing care for the injured. Data of injured bicyclists from 1985 to 2003 were analyzed for the following parameters: collision opponent, collision type, collision speed (km/h), Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), Maximum AIS (MAIS), incidence of polytrauma (Injury Severity Score >16), incidence of death (death before end of first hospital stay). 4,264 injured bicyclists were included. 55% were male and 45% female. The age was grouped to preschool age in 0.9%, 6 to 12 years in 10.8%, 13 to 17 years in 10.4%, 18 to 64 years in 64.7%, and over 64 years in 13.2%. The MAIS was 1 in 78.8%, 2 in 17.0%, 3 in 3.0%, 4 in 0.6%, 5 in 0.4%, and 6 in 0.2%. The incidence of polytrauma was 0.9%, and the incidence of death was 0.5%. The incidence of injuries to different body regions was as follows: head, 47.8%; neck, 5.2%, thorax, 21%; upper extremities, 46.3%; abdomen, 5.8%; pelvis, 11.5%, lower extremities, 62.1%. The accident location was urban in 95.2%, and rural in 4.8%. The accidents happened during daylight in 82.4%, during night in 12.2%, and during dawn/dusk in 5.3%. The road situation was as follows: straight, 27.3%; bend, 3.0%; junction, 32.0%; crossing, 26.4%; gate, 5.9%; others, 5.4%. The collision opponents were cars in 65.8%, trucks in 7.2%, bicycles in 7.4%, standing objects in 8.8%, multiple objects in 4.3%, and others in 6.5%. The collision speed was grouped <31 in 77.9%, 31-50 in 4.9%, 51-70 in 3.7%, and >70 in 1.5%. The helmet use rate was 1.5%. 68% of the registered head injuries were located in the effective helmet protection area. In bicyclists, head and extremities are at high risk for injuries. The helmet use rate is unsatisfactorily low. Remarkably, two thirds of the head injuries could have been prevented by helmets. Accidents are concentrated to crossings, junctions and gates. A significant lower mean injury severity was observed in victims using separate bicycle lanes. These results do strongly support the extension or addition of bicycle lanes and their consequent use. However, the lanes are frequently interrupted at crossings and junctions. This emphasizes also the important endangering of bicyclists coming from crossings, junctions and gates, i.e. all situations in which contact of bicyclists to motorized vehicles is possible. Redesigning junctions and bicycle traffic lanes to minimize the possibility of this dangerous contact would be preventive measures. A more consequent helmet use and use and an extension of bicycle paths for a better separation of bicyclists and motorized vehicle would be simple but very effective preventive measures.
This paper describes the methodology of In-Depth Investigation in Germany on the example of GIDAS (German In-Depth Accident Study). Since 1999 in Germany a joint project between FAT (Forschungsvereinigung Automobiltechnik or Automotive Industry Research Association) and BASt (Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen or the Federal Road Research Institute) is being carried out in Hannover and Dresden. The methodology of this project is based on a statistically orientated procedure of data sampling (sampling plan, weighting factors). The paper describes the possibilities of such in-depth investigation on the results of the offered title. The accident cases were collected randomly within GIDAS at Hannover. There are more cases existing from previous investigation started in 1985 under the same methodology. The portion of rollovers can be established at 3.7% of all accidents with casualties in the year 2000. For the study 434 cases of car accidents with rollovers are used for a detail comprehensive analysis. The accidents happened in the years 1994 to 2000 in the Hannover area. The injury distribution will report about 741 occupants with rollover accident event. The presented paper will give an overview of the accident situations following in rollover movements of cars. The distributions of injury frequencies, injury severity AIS for the whole body and for the body regions of occupants will be presented and compared to technical details like the impact speed and the deformation pattern. The speed of the car was determined at the point of rollover and on the point of accident initiency. The characteristics of the kinematics followed in a rollover movement are analyzed and the major defined types of rollover will be shown in the paper. The paper will describe the possibilities of In-Depth Investigation methods for the approach of finding countermeasures on the example of car accidents with rollover and explaining the biomechanics of injuries in rollover movements.
Road safety is a major preoccupation of the European Commission and the road transport industry and depends on numerous significant factors. In order to improve road safety and to plan effective safety improvement actions for truck transport, we must first identify the problems to be addressed, i.e. what are the main causes of truck accidents. The ETAC project, initiated by the European Commission and the IRU, was launched in order to set up a heavy goods vehicle accident causation study across European countries to identify future actions which could contribute to the improvement of road safety. The results will be based on a detailed analysis of truck accident data collected in seven European countries according to a common methodology which has been elaborated through numerous national and European projects. This paper describes the common methodology used to collect the information on the scene of the accident and to analyse the data so that the reconstruction of the crash events may be carried out. CEESAR proposes a methodology using its experience gained from over 10 years of accident data collection. This methodology is based on an in-depth investigation of the parameters involved in-an accident and linked to the driver, the vehicle, the road and their environment. In-depth investigation requires accident investigator presence on the scene of the accident in order to collect volatile information such as marks on the road, weather conditions, visibility, state and equipment of the vehicle, driver interview. Later, passive and active information is gathered, either at the hospital for the driver, at the garage for the vehicle or on the spot for the road geometry. A reconstruction carried out with the help of specific software and the analysis of the data collected and calculated enables the identification of the main causes of the accident and the future actions to plan in order to improve road safety as regards truck traffic.
This contribution introduces a number of psychological methods of analysis that are based on the practice-oriented collection of information directly at the site of an accident and that allow for an analysis and coding of the accident causes. Investigation examples and examples of the data combinations with basic medical and technical data are outlined. Objective of the collection is the inter-disciplinary investigation of human factors in the causes of accidents ("human-factor-analysis"). The psychological data are incorporated according to an integrative model for accident causes based on empiric algorithms in the data base of the accident research, where the clustered evaluation potential of comprehensive factors of the accident development can be illustrated. The central theoretical concept for the basic model of the progress of the accident from a psychological point of view comprises psychological indicators for the evaluation of the site of the accident for the analysis of the perception conditions as well as a classification of the gleaned data into the accident progress model according to chronological and local criteria. Perception conditions, action intentions and executions as well as conditions limiting perception and actions are acquired, using a questionnaire for persons involved in an accident, and are also integrated into the data structure concerning weighted feature characteristics as well as combined with other relevant features. Suitable systematization tools for the collection and coding of psychological accident development parameters have to be provided, which require primarily a model image of the corresponding processes from the persons involved in the accident (perceptions, expectations, decisions, actions). The interactive accident model contains components of the models by KÜTING 1990, MC DONALD 1972, SURREY 1969 and RASMUSSEN 1980. Based on the inter-action of the three partial systems "person", "vehicle" and "environment", the first step is the assessment of the situation by the persons involved in the accident. This is dependent on the personal attitudes and motives, on experiences and expectations concerning the progress of the situation. Subsequently, data concerning the manner of the coping with the ambiguous state as well as with the instable state (emergency reaction immediately before the accident occurs) are collected. The factors relating to the persons involved in the accident are gathered on several levels using corresponding questionnaires. The coding of the found and collected characteristics is conducted in a multidimensional evaluation relating to the technical results of the accident reconstruction and of the psychological classification, which are subsequently integrated in coded form into the data base of the accident research. The result of this analysis is a description of the development of the accident depicted on a chronological vector from a perception and decision theoretical perspective. This is explained in detail using exemplary cases.
Data concerning accidents involving personal injury which have been collected in the context of in-depth investigations on scene in the Hannover area since 1973 and in the Dresden area since 1999 represent an important basis for empirical traffic safety research. At national and international level various analyses and comparisons are carried out on the basis of "in-depth data" from the above mentioned investigations. In-depth data play a decisive role e.g. within the validation of EuroNCAP results on secondary safety (crashworthiness) of individual passenger car models. Thus, statistically sound methods of data analysis and population parameter estimation are of high importance. Since the 1st of August 1984 the "in-depth investigations on scene" in the Hannover area have been carried out according to a sampling plan developed by HAUTZINGER in the context of a research project on behalf of BASt. In the meantime a second region of in-depth investigation on scene was added with surveys in Dresden and the surrounding area. Internationally, the acronym GIDAS (German In-Depth Accident Study) is commonly used for the two above mentioned surveys. The objective of a current research project (topic of this contribution) is, among other things, to examine and adjust the previous weighting and expansion method for the two regional accident investigations to the current general conditions.
In-depth road traffic accident research in Spain is a fairly recent activity. In the past, only accident data that had been retrospectively processed by the national and regional traffic police forces was available. In 1999 Applus+IDIADA set up a permanent accident research unit to carry out indepth analysis of road accidents in Spain. Since then accidents involving cars, motorcycles, coaches and vulnerable road users have been thoroughly studied. The Applus+IDIADA accident research team has carried out work for the various traffic polices in Spain and it is currently involved in several research projects in which accidentology is one of the main tasks. The working methodology of the team is presented in the first part of the paper. In the framework of the European research project "Rollover" (GRD2-2001-50086), Applus+IDIADA has collected data, inspected scenarios and performed virtual reconstructions of twenty-six of the total seventy-six rollover accidents studied. The second half of the paper describes how these accident investigations were used to develop a test procedure for identifying possible improvements to the vehicle structure which augment occupant protection in a rollover scenario. In particular, a proposal for a new drop test for rollover assessment is presented. The cases were analysed for severity, in terms of injury to the occupants and damage to the vehicle, and taking into account whether a seatbelt was worn or not. The worst possible cases were identified as those that had severe occupant injuries and sizable damage to the occupant compartment when seatbelts had been worn. The most severe cases were then analysed further for impact position (roll and pitch angles) and the impact velocity. With these parameters taken into account, the most representative combinations could be found. This resulted in a series of configurations for possible drop tests. The results of the tests indicate where passenger vehicle structures need to be improved in order to increase occupant safety in the event of a rollover crash.
Interaction of road environment, vehicle and human factors in the causation of pedestrian accidents
(2005)
The UK On-the-Spot project (OTS) completed over 1500 in-depth investigations of road accidents during 2000-2003 and is continuing for a further 3 years. Cases were sampled from two regions of England using rotating shifts to cover all days of the week and all hours of the day and night. Research teams were dispatched to accidents notified to police during the shifts; arrival time to the scene of the accident was generally less than 20 minutes. The methodology of OTS includes sophisticated systems for describing accident causation and the interaction of road, vehicle and human factors. The purpose of this paper is to describe and illustrate these systems by reference to pedestrian accidents. This type of analysis is intended to provide an insight into how and why pedestrian accidents occur in order to assist the development of effective road, vehicle and behavioural countermeasures.
76 severe traffic accidents had been investigated in depth in an ongoing Volkswagen-Tongji University joint accident research project in JiaDing district, Shanghai, PR China since June 2005. With a methodology similar to German accident research units in Dresden and Hannover, a research team proceeds to the scene immediately after the incident to investigate and collect various data on environment, accident occurrence, vehicle state and deformations as well as injuries. The data combined with the results of accident reconstruction will be stored in a database for further statistical and casuistic analysis. The first outcome of the project supports the hypothesis that a main causation for the large number of traffic accidents in China is the lacking of risk awareness in Chinese driver behaviour. Low seat-belt use and the high proportion of vulnerable and poorly protected two-wheelers in traffic are reasons for the high injury and fatality rate in China. The research work shows that accident research in China is feasible and able to give support to tackle one of the urging problems in Chinese development.
In Finland all fatal motor vehicle accidents are studied in-depth on-the-spot by multidisciplinary (police, road and vehicle engineers, physician and behavioural scientist) road accident investigation teams (legislation 2001, work started 1968), which operate in every province. The purpose of the teams is to uncover risk factors that turned an ordinary driving situation into a serious accident and give safety recommendations for improving road safety. The investigation teams do not take a stand on guilt or insurance compensation. When analysing accidents the teams use the concepts of key event, immediate, background and injury risk factors. Compiled investigation folders of each case contain investigation forms from each member, preinvestigation protocol, photographs, sketches etc. About 500 items of information are collected from each accident party. The collected information is also coded into a computer database. Both the database and the investigation folders are widely utilized by researchers and authorities conducting safety work.