With this study, the BASt is following up the last study on the accident involvement of motorhomes which dated from 1999. Not only is the focus of the study on the development in the number of accidents involving motorhomes which occurred between 2000 and 2010, but also on their structure. The character of the drivers of the motorhomes concerned and some of the technical features were also analysed, including the motorisation and the permissible total weight. It was also the case that a small group of cars towing caravans were also included in the study as far as possible. Both of these groups were compared with the group comprising all of the car accidents. Motorhomes are not explicitly coded in the official accident statistics so that the regular German Statistical Office publications do not provide any information on accidents involving motorhomes. It is however possible to identify German motorhomes on the basis of the additional motor vehicle technology information from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority which can then be evaluated across the entire range of the characteristic feature of the official data material. With a share of less than 0.3 percent of all accidents resulting in personal injuries, accidents involving motorhomes do not play a major part in accidents. 743 accidents involving motorhomes and resulting in personal injuries were registered in 2010. This means that the number of accidents involving motorhomes has been reduced by 36 percent since 2000. This development is even better than the development of accidents involving cars (-28 percent). Accidents involving motorhomes caused in 2010 caused the deaths of 19 people with 202 people being severely injured. From these, four of the deceased and 62 of the severely injured were passengers in a motorhome; the remaining victims were registered as being the other involved party. A differentiated consideration of the severity of the accidents involving motorhomes with regard to the drivers and the passengers provides starting points for improving safety. On average, the passengers in motorhomes suffered a considerably worse severity when compared with the drivers. The key figures for 'serious personal injuries with regard to the drivers or passengers respectively' were 51 serious personal injuries per 1,000 passengers and 34 serious personal injuries per 1,000 drivers. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting