In an effort to aid automotive designers in producing safer vehicles and assist governments in evaluating the performance of existing standards and regulations (or determine the need for modifications to these standards), a project was designed which would test the feasibility and practicality of a process for collecting vehicle damage and correlative injury information. This would be accomplished by means of an international set of accident investigation and reporting protocols that would provide a common basis for accident analysis on a world-wide scale. For the purposes of this study, the investigations were limited to the two fundamental parameters: vehicle deformation and injury severity. The methodology employed and the case study program are outlined and the workshops of Wolfsburg, Turin and Brussels are reviewed. Details are given of the organizational and operational structure, the common report forms, and the submission of case reports. The team coding systems and computer programs are described, and the preliminary results from international traffic accident data are presented. The proposed international accident investigation system is discussed. Conclusions and recommendations based on the study are presented, and implementation actions are proposed.
Abstract