A sample of post-mortem reports on the adult occupants of cars and light vans who died within 12 hours of their vehicles being involved in collision with another motor vehicle (excluding motor cycles) have been scrutinized for the period October 1967 to march 1968. The injuries responsible for death have been correlated both with the types of vehicle in collision and the directions of impact. The analysis indicates that a high proportion (at least 50%) of the light vehicle occupants killed in collision are the result of hitting a heavy commercial vehicle, although these only travel a tenth of the total miles covered by light vehicles giving a very high risk relative to car/car collisions. Collisions with the rear of other vehicles amounted to some 13% of the deaths in the sample, and in each case a heavy commercial vehicle was the other vehicle involved; some 70% of these accidents occurred during the hours of darkness. /HSL/.
Abstract