Rear-End Crashes: Problem Size Assessment And Statistical Description

Transferred from EDL on 5/14/2008PDFTech ReportDOT HS 807 994United States. Joint Program Office for Intelligent Transportation SystemsIntelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program OfficeKEYWORDSRESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OR R&D, ADVANCED VEHICLE CONTROL & SAFETY SYSTEMS OR AVCSS, INTELLIGENT VEHICLE INITIATIVE OR IVITHIS DOCUMENT PRESENTS PROBLEM SIZE ASSESSMENTS AND STATISTICAL CRASH DESCRIPTION FOR REAR-END CRASHES, INCLUDING TWO KEY SUBTYPES: LEAD-VEHICLE STATIONARY (LVS) AND LEAD-VEHICLE MOVING (LVM). PRINCIPAL DATA SOURCES ARE THE 1990 GENERAL ESTIMATES SYSTEMS (GES) AND FATAL ACCIDENT REPORTING SYSTEM (FARS). REAR-END CRASHES ARE A POTENTIAL "TARGET CRASH" OF HIGH-TECHNOLOGY INTELLIGENT VEHICLE HIGHWAY SYSTEM (IVHS) CRASH AVOIDANCE COUNTERMEASURES. IN THIS REPORT, THE REAR-END CRASH PROBLEM SIZE IS ASSESSED USING SUCH MEASURES AS NUMBER OF CRASHES, NUMBER AND SEVERITY OF INJURIES, NUMBER OF FATALITIES, CRASH INVOLVEMENT RATE, AND CRASH INVOLVEMENT LIKELIHOOD. PROBLEM SIZE STATISTICS ARE PROVIDED FOR THREE VEHICLE TYPE CATEGORIES: ALL VEHICLES, PASSENGER VEHICLES (I.E., CARS, LIGHT TRUCKS, LIGHT VANS), AND COMBINATION-UNIT TRUCKS. LVS AND LVM REAR-END CRASHES ARE DESCRIBED STATISTICALLY PRIMARILY IN TERMS OF THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THEY OCCUR (E.G., TIME OF DAY, WEATHER, ROADWAY TYPE, RELATION TO JUNCTION) AND, WHEN DATA ARE AVAILABLE, IN TERMS OF POSSIBLE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS