Transport of dangerous goods by road is an important problem because of the inherent risks associated with the transport and because of the political importance attached. In this paper an overview of 30 years of accident case histories experienced in relation to the transport of dangerous goods by road is summarized and statistics are presented related to the materials involved. The human consequences in terms of number of fatalities arising from the transport of dangerous goods are assessed, also in terms of frequency-fatality curves. Comparison is made with other modes of transport, and with similar accidents from the fixed installations in the chemical industry. An evaluation of the environmental damage arising from road accidents with dangerous goods is much more difficult to make, but an estimation is attempted, based on the data available. It is concluded that road transport of dangerous goods seems to lead to consequences with similar magnitude as accidents from other types of transport and from fixed installations, both in terms of human consequences, with an overall frequency of about 10% of the frequency of accidents at fixed installations. For environmental consequences, preliminary results indicate that road transport accidents with dangerous goods may dominate the transport modes of rail, pipe and inland water transport. (A)
Abstract