This project examined the prevalence of pedal application errors and the driver, vehicle, roadway and/or environmental characteristics associated with pedal misapplication crashes based on a literature review, analysis of news media reports, a panel of driver rehabilitation specialists, analysis of multiple crash databases, and case studies. An analysis of crashes attributed to pedal-related vehicle equipment malfunction, rather than to a driver error, was also carried out based on a media scan. Available sources provide an estimate of 15 pedal misapplication crashes per month in the United States, but there are limits to the reporting and archiving of these events that could result in underestimation. Analyses of media reports and a State crash database indicated that the drivers in almost two-thirds of such crashes were females. When crash involvement is plotted against driver age a U-shaped function shows significant over-involvement by the youngest (age 16 to 20) and oldest (76 and older) drivers. Driver inattention and distraction were common contributing factors across age groups. Analysis of news reports examined which vehicle types, makes, and models most often experienced stuck accelerators and other equipment malfunctions in crashes between 2000 and 2010. Passenger cars were by far the most prevalent, and the makes that were most strongly over-represented in relation to their proportion of the U.S. fleet were all domestic. Besides identifying future research needs, recommendations were to educate physicians about medical conditions associated with pedal misapplications; refer drivers with lower limb sensory loss to driver rehabilitation specialists for evaluation for hand controls; inform the public about how to counteract an unintended acceleration; and provide law enforcement with a practical means of recording information about drivers in pedal misapplication crashes. (Author/publisher)
Abstract