The major, preliminary findings of the National Crash Severity Study are: Safety belt usage among people who are involved in crashes even lower than among the general motoring population. Only 8.4 percent of the occupants of vehicles in the study were wearing belts, compared to about 14 percent of the total population. Occupant ejections in crashes are identified as a very serious problem. Nearly one third of all fatalities, and nearly a quarter of all seriously injured occupants were ejected from the vehicle during the crash. More than half of the ejections occurred in rollover accidents. The likelihood of an occupant being seriously injured or killed in a side impact is about twice the likelihood of similar injury in a frontal collision. A total of more than 8,000 automobile occupants are killed each year is side impacts, making it the second most common cause of motor vehicle fatalities after frontal impacts. Serious injuries and fatalities are generally correlated with higher speed crashes. Half of all the fatalities in the study occurred in crashes in which the vehicle changed velocity during the crash by at least 35 mph. However, some rear seat occupants, occupants who are seated well away from the point at which an automobile is struck, and those who are properly restraind may be less seriously injured than would be indicated by the damage to the vehicle. In fact, some survived crashes at more than 40 mph.
Abstract