This report examines literature, Australian crash data and Australian vehicle registration data to re-examine the role of vehicle mass and vehicle type in determining crash outcomes. It is hoped that the findings will contribute to discussions about occupant safety, incompatibility and fleet mix on Australian roads. The analysis has been conducted with the intention of disseminating the findings through journal articles and conference paper presentations. Hence most sections are laid out in the form of a manuscript for publication. The report contains the following studies: - a critical review and discussion of the literature that deals with the role of car mass in secondary safety; - two matched pairs analyses of drivers in the same collision to estimate effects of vehicle year of manufacture and vehicle mass on differential fatality risks; - two analyses of driver fatality risk in single vehicle crashes to estimate effects of vehicle mass and vehicle year on fatality risk; - an analysis of vehicle registration data from New South Wales to examine trends in the changing light vehicle fleet in respect of vehicle type and vehicle mass, and a brief analysis of crash data to examine the prevalence of certain vehicle combinations in crashes; - a study on the effect of the differences in vehicle type on asymmetrical risks in two car crashes; and - a short paper on the role of vehicle mass on secondary safety with an analysis of US NCAP crash data to examine the effect of vehicle mass on dummy loads measured in crash tests. (Author/publisher)
Abstract