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Automobile Collision Data: An Assessment of Needs and Methods of Acquisition
February 1975
NTIS order #PB-244867
T
ECHNOLOGY
A
SSESSMENT
BOARD
Congress of the United States
EMILIO 0. DADDARIOOLIN
E.
TEAGUE, TEXAS, CHAIRMAN
DIRECTOR
CLIFFORD P. CASE, N.J., VICE CHAIR MAN
O
FFICE OF
T
ECHNOLOGY
A
SSESSMENT
DANIEL V. De SIMONEEDWARD M. KENNEDY. MASS.MORRIS K. UDALL, ARIZ.
W
ASHINGTON
, D.C.
20510
DEPUTY DIRECTOR
ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, S.C.GEORGE E. BROWN, JR., CALIF.HUBERT H. HUMPHREY. MINN.CHARLES A. MOSHER, OHIORICHARD S. SCHWEKER,
PA.
MARVIN L. ESCH, MICH.TED STEVENS. ALASKAMARJORIE S. HOLT, MD.EMILIO Q. DA DADDARIO
The Honorable George H. MahonChairman
Committee on AppropriationsU. S. House of Representatives”
Washington, D. C. 20515 .
Dear Mr. Chairman:On behalf of the Board of The Office of Technology Assessment,
we are pleased to forward to
you the
following report on
Automobile Collision Data.This study was requested as anevaluation of the automotive crash recorder program proposedby the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).As the assessment progressed,the implications for automobilecollision data as a “whole became apparent and the report hasbeen so titled to provide a more accurate indication of its
scope.
This report is being made available to your Committee inaccordance with Public Law 92-484.Respectfully yours,ChairmanViceTechnology Assessment Board
...——
.
.
PREFACEHighlights of the study findings which are especially relevantto the four questions posed by the House Appropriations Committeein its letter of request are summarized below.(The Committeeletter is appended).
1.
2.
Cost and Adequacy of Current NHTSA ProgramsThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hasspent a total of $15.8 million during the last three yearsgathering and analyzing automobile crash data.The datacollected by NHTSA is inadequate to provide a basis foreffective safety standard setting or measurement of thebenefits of the standards in force.The inadequacies ofthe system are:too few reports are gathered too slowly;the file is biased toward severe injury accidents; reportsdo not include adequate quantitative measures of causalseverity; and, the information recorded in accident reportsis not that which is essential to answering the specificquestions of rulemakers,accident researchers and car
designers.
Use of Existing Crash RecordersThere are 1800 installed (disk-type) crash recorders.These provide a 3-axis acceleration time history over theactual impact interval.This information would probablybe adequate to determine crash severity had a severityindex been explicitly defined.After the index is defined,these same recorders might be used as part of a specializedcrash severity research program.Currently these recorders provide a limited independentmeasure of crash severity in air–bag equipped cars.They arealso giving NHTSA practical experience in the retrieval,readout andanalysis of crash records, the reliability ofrecorders themselves,and the reactions of fleet owners tocrash recorder installations.
-i-
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