Epidemiology of motor vehicle collisions
Encyclopedia
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mage:Road traffic accidents world map - Death - WHO2004.svg|thumb|260px|Deaths for road traffic accidents per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004.
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mage:Road traffic accidents world map - Death - WHO2004.svg|thumb|260px|Deaths for road traffic accidents per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004.
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Worldwide it was estimated that 1.2 million people were killed and 50 million more were injured in motor vehicle collisions in 2004. This makes motor vehicle collisions the leading cause of death among children 10 – 19 years of age (260,000 children die a year, 10 million are injured) and the sixth leading preventable cause of death in the United States (45,800 people died and 2.4 million were injured in 2005).
Modern accident statistics often focus on reportable injury accidents (which include deaths) rather than reporting on deaths alone. It is believed that serious accidents are often significantly under-reported, under-recorded and misclassified and that the completeness of reporting may vary over time and between sources.
technology such as stalled-car monitors to avoid crashes.
In developing nations, statistics may be grossly inaccurate or hard to get. Some nations have not significantly reduced the total death rate, which stands at 12,000 in Thailand in 2007, for example.
In the United States, twenty-eight states had reductions in the number of automobile accident fatalities between 2005 and 2006. 55% of vehicle occupants 16 years or older in 2006 were not using seat belts when they crashed.
Road fatality trends tend to follow Smeed's law
, an empirical schema that correlates reduced injury rates with increased traffic congestion as measured by car ownership rates.
Crashes are categorized by what is struck and the direction of impact, or impacts. These are some common crash types, based on the total number that occurred in the U.S.A. in 2005, the percentage of total crashes, and the percentage of fatal crashes:
Rollover, head-on, pedestrian, and bicyclist crashes combined are only 6.1% of all crashes, but cause 34.5% of traffic-related fatalities.
Sometimes the vehicles in the collision can suffer more than one type of impact, such as during a shunt or high-speed spin. This is called a "second harmful event," such as when a vehicle is redirected by the first crash into another vehicle or fixed object.
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mage:Road traffic accidents world map - Death - WHO2004.svg|thumb|260px|Deaths for road traffic accidents per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004.
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mage:Road traffic accidents world map - Death - WHO2004.svg|thumb|260px|Deaths for road traffic accidents per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004.
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Worldwide it was estimated that 1.2 million people were killed and 50 million more were injured in motor vehicle collisions in 2004. This makes motor vehicle collisions the leading cause of death among children 10 – 19 years of age (260,000 children die a year, 10 million are injured) and the sixth leading preventable cause of death in the United States (45,800 people died and 2.4 million were injured in 2005).
Modern accident statistics often focus on reportable injury accidents (which include deaths) rather than reporting on deaths alone. It is believed that serious accidents are often significantly under-reported, under-recorded and misclassified and that the completeness of reporting may vary over time and between sources.
Trends
Road toll figures in developed nations show that car collision fatalities have declined since 1980. Japan is an extreme example, with road deaths decreasing to 5,115 in 2008, which is 25% of the 1970 rate per capita and 17% of the 1970 rate per vehicle distance travelled. In 2008, for the first time, more pedestrians than vehicle occupants were killed in Japan by cars. Besides improving general road conditions like lighting and separated walkways, Japan has been installing intelligent transportation systemIntelligent transportation system
The term intelligent transportation systems refers to information and communication technology that improve transport outcomes such as transport safety, transport productivity, travel reliability, informed travel choices, social equity, environmental performance and network operation...
technology such as stalled-car monitors to avoid crashes.
In developing nations, statistics may be grossly inaccurate or hard to get. Some nations have not significantly reduced the total death rate, which stands at 12,000 in Thailand in 2007, for example.
In the United States, twenty-eight states had reductions in the number of automobile accident fatalities between 2005 and 2006. 55% of vehicle occupants 16 years or older in 2006 were not using seat belts when they crashed.
Road fatality trends tend to follow Smeed's law
Smeed's law
Smeed's Law, named after R. J. Smeed, who first proposed the relationship in 1949, is an empirical rule relating traffic fatalities to traffic congestion as measured by the proxy of motor vehicle registrations and country population. Thus, increasing traffic volume leads to an increase in...
, an empirical schema that correlates reduced injury rates with increased traffic congestion as measured by car ownership rates.
Proportion of deaths by type of impact
- Rear impactsRear-end collisionA rear-end collision is a traffic accident wherein a vehicle crashes into the vehicle in front of it, usually caused by tailgating or panic stops...
(1,824,000 crashes, 29.6% of all US crashes, 5.4 % of US fatal crashes) - Angle or side impactsSide collisionSide collisions are vehicle crashes where the side of one or more vehicles is impacted. These crashes often occur at intersections, in parking lots, when two vehicles pass on a multi-lane roadway, or when a vehicle hits a fixed object....
(1,779,000 crashes, 28.9% of all US crashes, 20.7% of US fatal crashes) - Run-off-road collisionRun-off-road collisionA run-off-road collision is a type of single-vehicle accident that occurs when a vehicle leaves the roadway. Contributing factors often include loss of control or mis-judging a curve, or attempting to avoid colliding with another road user or an animal...
s (992,000 crashes, 16.1% of US crashes, 31.7% of US fatal crashes) - Collisions with animals (275,000 crashes, 4.5% of US crashes, 0.4% of fatal crashes)
- RolloverRolloverA rollover is a type of vehicle accident in which a vehicle tips over onto its side or roof. The most common cause of a rollover is traveling too fast while turning.- Dynamics :Vehicles can roll over in several ways...
s (141,000 crashes, 2.3% of all US crashes, 10.9% of US fatal crashes) - Head-on collisionHead-on collisionA head-on collision is one where the front ends of two ships, trains, planes or vehicles hit each other, as opposed to a side collision or rear-end collision.-Rail transport:...
(123,000 crashes, only 2.0% of all US crashes, but 10.1% of US fatal crashes) - Collisions with pedestrians and bicyclists (114,000 crashes, only 1.8% of US crashes, but 13.5% of US fatal crashes)
- Back-up collisionBack-up collisionBackup collisions happen when a driver reverses the car into an object, person, or other car. Although most cars come equipped with rear view mirrors which are adequate for detecting vehicles behind a car, they are inadequate on many vehicles for detecting small children or objects close to the...
s killed 221 people in the US in 2007, and injured about 14,400. This is one of the most common types of non-traffic auto collision in which road workers and children 15 and younger are killed.
Rollover, head-on, pedestrian, and bicyclist crashes combined are only 6.1% of all crashes, but cause 34.5% of traffic-related fatalities.
Sometimes the vehicles in the collision can suffer more than one type of impact, such as during a shunt or high-speed spin. This is called a "second harmful event," such as when a vehicle is redirected by the first crash into another vehicle or fixed object.