The present report analyses the occurrence of accidents in the carriage of dangerous goods. The report is based on the data contained in the official road traffic accident statistics which are conveyed to BAST for use in accident research. Data from 1992 to 1995 are analysed in the report. An accident is defined as an accident involving dangerous goods when the personal injury accidents data contain details on at least one of the characteristics specific to dangerous goods for at least one goods vehicle. Using important characteristics relating to the accidents and the parties involved, a detailed examination is carried out into the structure of personal injury accidents which occur during the transport of dangerous goods. Specific differences between the accident occurrence of goods vehicles carrying dangerous goods and of goods transport as a whole are also established. The annual number of personal injury accidents in the carriage of dangerous goods decreased greatly during the period under investigation. On the condition that the number of unreported cases and the quality of the accident data remained almost constant during the period under investigation, it may be concluded that the number of accidents in the carriage of dangerous goods has decreased. Compared with road accidents which involve general goods traffic, accidents in the carriage of dangerous goods are rare. "Only" about 8 out of 1,000 personal injury accidents which involved goods vehicles were classified according to the above definition as an accident involving dangerous goods. The consequences of these accidents are, however, much more severe. There was an average of 69 fatalities in every 1,000 personal injury accidents in dangerous goods transport and 46 in goods traffic as a whole. However, in 92 % of the accidents investigated, the dangerous goods which were being transported were not directly responsible for the much greater severity of the accidents, as dangerous substances escaped in "only" 8 % of the cases. The costs for the economy were, regarding the personal injury accidents, 40 % higher than the average costs of an accident in general goods traffic; regarding primary material damage, the costs were three times as high. Secondary material damage, which is mainly the long-term damage caused by the dangerous goods, was not able to be determined in this investigation as the corresponding information was not available. However, an earlier BASt investigation (Pöppel, Kohnen; 1993) showed that secondary material damage - in the case of the tanker accidents which were the subject of the investigation - was up to 40 % higher than primary material damage. (Author/publisher)
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