This report analyzes the problem of light vehicle crashes in the United States to support the development and assessment of effective crash avoidance systems as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Intelligent Vehicle Initiative. The analysis was conducted using data from the 2000 National Automotive Sampling/General Estimates System crash database of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Light vehicle (passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and pickup trucks) crashes are analyzed in terms of their major crash types, physical setting, and concomitant pre-crash scenarios. In 2000, light vehicle crashes accounted for 6,133,000 or 96% of all police-reported (PR) crashes on U.S. roadways. About 96% of all PR crashes belong to nine known major crash types: rear-end, crossing paths, off-roadway, lane change, opposite direction, pedestrian, pedalcyclist, animal, and backing. The examination of the physical setting of major crash types shows that about 40% of all PR light vehicle crashes happened away from junctions, 25% of all PR light vehicle crashes were reported to occur at intersections, and 20% of the crashes were related to intersections. The 9 major crash types consist mainly of 55 specific and dominant pre-crash scenarios. These scenarios yielded a top 11 list of major pre-crash scenarios, which represent a new crash taxonomy that covers 4,275,000 (70%) of all PR light vehicle crashes.
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