During 1976 and part of 1977 the Dutch institute for road safety research SWOV carried out the field work for an accident study involving passenger cars. The purpose of this crash injury investigation was to evaluate the influence of relevant crash safety factors (like safety belts and head restraints) on the outcome of car accidents. Total sample size was 8173 cases. For the purpose of a meeting of an EEC working group on lateral collisions relevant material was made available, which is presented here. The 25% side damage (2044 cases) consists of left side and right side collisions. Left side lateral collisions amount to 13.9% of all cases, and right side lateral collisions amount to 11.1%, which is consistent with results of previous studies (in other countries as well as the Netherlands) and seems to be related to right hand traffic regulations.
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