Crashworthiness is the relative safety of vehicles in preventing severe injury in crashes. Crashworthiness ratings for 1982-97 model vehicles were developed based on data on crashes in Victoria and New South Wales during 1987-97 and in Queensland during 1991-96. Crashworthiness was measured by a combination of injury severity and injury risk of drivers. The ratings were adjusted for the driver sex and age, the speed limit at the crash location, the number of vehicles involved, the state in which the crash occurred and the year in which the crash occurred. These factors were found to be strongly related to injury risk and/or severity. The ratings estimate the risk of a driver being killed or admitted to hospital when involved in a tow-away crash, to a degree of accuracy represented by the confidence limits of the rating in each case. The estimates and their associated confidence limits were sufficiently sensitive that they were able to identify 55 models of passenger cars, four-wheel drive vehicles, passenger vans and light commercial vehicles that have superior or inferior crashworthiness characteristics compared with the average vehicle. Also investigated is the relationship between vehicle crashworthiness and the year of manufacture of Australian vehicles manufactured from 1964 to 1997. The results of this report are based on a number of assumptions and warrant a number of qualifications that should be noted. (A)
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