Using data from Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) and Florida, Maryland, Missouri, and Pennsylvania, four "ABS-relevant" crash types were identified as follows: (1) rollovers, (2) side impacts with parked vehicles or fixed objects, (3) frontal impacts with parked vehicles or fixed objects and (4) frontal impacts with another motor vehicle in transport. The light truck experiences in these four crash types were compared to a control group of crashes that are not expected to be affected by the presence of ABS. Detailed findings are provided for each type of ABS system, for the four individual crash types, and on favorable versus unfavorable road surfaces. The following findings were noted: a) significant reductions in nonfatal rollover crashes and side impact crashes with fixed objects/parked vehicles were associated with the presence of RWAL (Rear-Wheel AntiLock); b) a significant reduction in nonfatal rollover crashes was associated with the presence of AWAL (All-Wheel AntiLock); c) the reductions in nonfatal crashes did not extent to fatal crashes, in which no significant reductions associated with the RWAL or AWAL were found; d) significant increases in "did not stop in time" nonfatal and fatal crashes were found, associated with the presence of RWAL; and e) the relatively small sample size available for AWAL systems made it more difficult to detect significant differences in crashes.
Abstract