Het ledig gewicht van motorvoertuigen : ontwikkelingen sinds 1985.

Vehicle mass, or (kerb) motor vehicle weight plays an important role in the course, and especially the outcome, of collisions. In this report, the development of the (kerb) mass of vehicles for 1985-2001 is described. There has been a steady increase in the vehicle mass during this period for all distinguished vehicle types: cars, delivery vans, heavy goods vehicles, buses, and special vehicles (e.g. fire engines). For cars this was 12%, for delivery vans 15%, for lorries 27%, for articulated lorries 7%, and for buses 14%. Various developments have led to the average mass increase of cars, in spite of the further use of lighter materials. The mass increase probably occurred mainly among the existing car types as a result of an improvement in safety (mandatory as well as voluntarily), performance, and comfort. It can be assumed that an important part of the mass increase in other vehicle types has the same causes. The increase in kerb weight of individual vehicle types, and with it the average vehicle mass (of all vehicles) will have both positive and negative road safety consequences. Positive consequences go together with the fact that mass, and especially mass difference, favour the heavier of two colliding vehicles. Furthermore, it can be assumed that in collisions between two more or less equally heavy vehicles, both (sets of) occupants will profit from the mass increases. A better outcome may also be expected in single vehicle crashes. Negative consequences are to be expected for occupants of the lighter of the two colliding vehicles because the mass difference threatens to get larger. Part of this negative mass effect will be compensated by the advance in technique, making lighter cars also more collision-worthy. A less positive development is expected from the increase in the number of so-called sport utility vehicles (SUVs); these can be delivery vans as well as cars. They are relatively heavy and stiff vehicles that are aggressive towards just about all other cars and delivery vans of a comparable or smaller mass.