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Car Safety & Car Accidents Automobile safety is the avoidance of automobile accidents or the minimization of harmful effects of accidents, in particular as pertaining to human life and health. Numerous safety features have been built into cars for years, some for the safety of car's occupants only, some for the safety of others. 
Road traffic injuries represent about 25% of worldwide injury-related deaths (the leading cause) with an estimated 1.2 million deaths (2004) each year - World Health Organization [1]). Major factors in accidents include driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs; inattentive driving; crash compatibility between vehicles; driving while fatigued or unconscious; encounters with road hazards such as snow, potholes, and crossing animals; or reckless driving.
HistoryCar safety became an issue almost immediately after the invention of the automobile, when Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot crashed his steam-powered "Fardier" against a wall in 1771. One of the earliest recorded automobile fatalities was Mary Ward, on August 31, 1869 in Parsonstown, Ireland. In the 1930s, plastic surgeon Claire L. Straith and physician C. J. Strickland advocated the use of seat belts and padded dashboards. Strickland founded the Automobile Safety League of America [2][3]. In 1934 GM performed the first barrier crash test.[4] In the 1940s SAAB incorporated aircraft safety thinking into automobiles making the Saab 92 the first production car first with a safety cage[5]. In fact Volvo introduced the safety cage in 1944 (while Saab did in 1949).[6] In 1942 Hugh De Haven published the classic Mechanical analysis of survival in falls from heights of fifty to one hundred and fifty feet. [7] In the 1950s, Mercedes-Benz extensively crash tested prototypes.[8]. In 1958, the United Nations established the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, an international standards body advancing auto safety. Many of the most life saving safety innovations, like seat belts and roll cage construction were brought to market under its auspices. In 1966, the U.S. established the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) with automobile safety one of its purposes. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was created as an independent organization on April 1, 1967, but was reliant on the DOT for administration and funding. However, in 1975 the organization was made completely independent by the Independent Safety Board Act (in P.L. 93-633; 49 U.S.C. 1901). The NTSB and its European equivalent, EuroNCAP have each issued independent safety tests for all new automobiles, without reciprocity. In June, 2004 the NTSB released new tests designed to test the rollover risk of new cars and SUVs. Only the Mazda RX-8 got a 5-star rating. However, the correlation between official crash test results and road deaths in vehicles is not exact. An alternative method of assessing vehicle safety is to study the road accident statistics on a model-by-model basis. Despite technological advances, the death toll of car accidents remains high: about 40,000 people die every year in the U.S. While this number increases annually in line with rising population and increased travel, the rate per capita and per vehicle miles travelled decreases. In 1996 the U.S. had about 2 deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles, comparable to 1.9 in Germany, 2.6 in France, and 1.5 in the UK [9]. In 1998 there were 3,421 fatal accidents in the UK, the fewest since 1926.[10] A much higher number of accidents result in permanent disability. ColorA Swedish study found that pink cars are involved in the fewest accidents, with black cars being most often involved in crashes. This test also showed Saab to be the "safest car in Sweden [In terms of passive safety]" (Land transport NZ 2005). In Auckland New Zealand, a study found that there was a significantly lower rate of serious injury in silver cars; with higher rates in brown, black, and green cars. (Furness et al, 2003) Passenger safety when drivingPregnant womenWhen pregnant, women should continue to use seatbelts and airbags properly. A University of Michigan study found that "unrestrained or improperly restrained pregnant women are 5.7 times more likely to have an adverse fetal outcome than properly restrained pregnant women" [2]. If seatbelts are not long enough, extensions are available from the car manufacturer or an aftermarket supplier. ChildrenCar safety is especially critical for young children, as car safety is generally designed for normal sized adults. Safety features that could save an adult can actually cause more damage to a child than if the feature was not there. It is important to review with others, who may be supervising the child, the rules for car safety. All children age 12 and under should ride in the back seat. Also children weighing less than 85 lb (40 kg) should be in the back seat. This is especially the case if there are airbags in the front seat, as airbags are only designed to protect adults and may injure children; since airbags inflate at high speeds, a child who is improperly seated may be hit by an inflating airbag. That is not just an opinion but is also law in many of the U.S. states and other countries. The Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia has developed a website for parents and caregivers with extensive information about transporting children safely in automobiles. Child safety locks prevent children from accidentally opening doors from inside the vehicle, even if the door is unlocked. The door, once unlocked, can then be opened only from the outside. To find out more about laws relating to children car safety contact your local department of transportation authority. InfantsNewborn babies should be put in a car seat until they weigh at least 20 or 22 pounds (10 or 11 kg). These carriers are designed to be placed in the rear seat and face towards the rear with the baby looking towards the back window. Some of these carriers are "Convertibles" which can also be used forward facing for older children. With infants, these should only be used facing the rear. Harness straps should be at or below shoulder level. A rear-facing infant restraint must never be put in the front seat of a vehicle with a front passenger air bag. A rear-facing infant restraint places an infant's head close to the air bag module, which can cause severe head injuries or death if the air bag deploys. Modern cars include a switch to turn off the airbag system of the passenger seat, in which case a child-supporting seat must be installed. ToddlersToddlers over 1 year old and between 10 and 20 kg (20 and 40 pounds) should remain in a rear-facing child restraint until they have reached either the maximum allowable weight for the seat, or the tops of the toddler's head is less than 1" away from the top of the hard shell of the seat. Once that has been reached, then the toddler can be placed in an appropriate forward-facing child restraint. Young childrenChildren who weigh from 40 to 80 pounds (35 kg), are younger than 8, or are shorter than 4 ft 9 in (1.4 m) are advised to use booster seats, which raise them to a level that allows the seat belts to work effectively. These seats are forward facing and must be used with both lap and shoulder belts. Make sure the lap belt fits low and tight across the lap/upper thigh area and the shoulder belt fits snug crossing the chest and shoulder to avoid abdominal injuries. There are two main types of booster seats. If the car's back seat is lower than the child's ears, a high back booster seat should be used to help protect the child's head and neck. If the car's seat back is higher than the child's ears, a backless booster seat can be used. Older childrenChildren who can sit erect with their back flat against the back of a vehicle's rear seat, and who's legs bend comfortably at the knee at the edge of the seat can wear ordinary seatbelts. Be sure the shoulder strap fits snugly across the chest and that the lap belt is placed below the abdomen across the pelvis at the top of the thighs. Children 13 and over can ride up front with little danger from an airbag. Teenage DriversIn the UK you can get a full driving license aged 18 whereas most areas in the United States will issue a full driver's license at the age of 16, and all within a range between 14 and 18 [3]. In addition to being relatively inexperienced, teen drivers are also cognitively immature, compared to other drivers. This combination leads to an increased risk of accidents among this demographic. [11]. It is also recommended, and required in some areas, that new drivers stick a printed sign with the words "Novice Driver" in the lower driverside corner of the rear window. This is to alert other drivers that the vehicle is being driven by an inexperienced and learning driver, giving them opportunity to be more cautious and to encourage other drivers to give novices more leaway. [12] Active Safety featuresActive safety refers to systems in a vehicle which utilize feedback, using information about a car's external environment to change the response of the vehicle and improve the safety of the vehicle in the pre-crash time period, or during the crash event. Passive safety refers to built-in features of the vehicle such as crumple zones, seatbelts, and airbags, which work passively to prevent injury and do not change their action in response to crash scenario or severity. Active safetyTo make driving safer and prevent crashes from occurring, and also to better protect occupants during a crash, cars may have the following active safety features:
Passive safety
When a crash is imminent, various passive safety systems work together to minimize injury to the individuals involved. Much research has been done using crash test dummies to make modern cars safer than ever. Recently, attention has also been given to cars' design regarding the safety of pedestrians in car-pedestrian collisions. Proposals in Europe would require cars sold there to have a minimum/maximum hood (bonnet) height. From 2006 the use of "bull bars" (known as "roo bars" in Australia), a fashion on 4x4s and SUVs, became illegal.
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A car accident, sometimes called a car crash or car wreck, is an incident in which an automobile collides with anything that causes damage to the automobile, including other automobiles, telephone poles, buildings or trees, or in which the driver loses control of the vehicle and damages it in some other way, such as driving into a ditch or rolling over. Sometimes a car accident may also refer to an automobile striking a human or animal. Car crashes — also called road traffic accidents (RTAs), fender benders, traffic collisions, auto accidents, road accidents, personal injury collisions, motor vehicle accidents (MVAs), — kill an estimated 1.2 million people worldwide each year, and injure about forty times this number (WHO, 2004). Causes
Many countries require the reporting and collection of road traffic accident statistics. Although the type of information collected differs between jurisdiction, this enables a figure to be produced for personal injuries and deaths to be produced, and correlated against a range of circumstances. It is then possible to attempt to group these circumstances in order to infer a cause, or causes for sets of accidents. It has long been recognised that there may be a combination of factors, such as road conditions, weather environment, driver actions, or pedestrian actions, that contribute to an accident or road death. For example, an early study by J. J. Leeming, then responsible for the road network of the English county of Dorset, compared the circumstances around road deaths as reported in various American states (before the widespread introduction of 55 mph speed limits and drink-driving laws):[1]
As the factors involved in collisions have been better understood, the term "accident" is sometimes avoided by some organisations. Road design
As the understanding of these contributory factors have improved, there have been attempts to mitigate the worse of the physical road conditions, which can now include:
For many years accepted wisdom held that separating and controlling pedestrians, cyclists, and motor vehicles would lead to safer streets and facilitate higher motoring speeds through built-up areas, leading to the widespread use of traffic lights, Belisha beacons, pedestrian crossings, and cycle lanes. Although the wisdom of this has long been questioned,[2] for most of the 20th Century planners have typically provided separate lanes, encouraging different classes of road user to progress independently at different speeds over an uncomplicated street design that is easy to interpret.[3] A subsequent reappraisal of this approach has led to the redesign of junctions and the introduction of traffic calming measures in potentially hazardous areas to reduce the risk of collisions and to minimize the severity of injuries; pedestrian safety and access has been prioritized over car drivers' desires to make fast progress. Vehicle design and maintenance
A well-maintained vehicle, with good brakes, tires and well-adjusted suspension will be more controllable in an emergency and thus be better equipped to avoid collisions. Some mandatory vehicle inspection schemes test for roadworthiness, such as the UK's MOT test or German TÜV conformance inspection. The design of vehicles has also evolved to improve protection after collision. Initially this was a reaction to consumer pressure, after publications such as Ralph Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed accused motor manufacturers of indifference towards safety, and more latterly under government legislation, such as the Euro NCAP impact test. On close inspection, modern vehicles show design features such as thicker pillars, safety glass, and interiors with no sharp edges. Less obvious are the stronger bodies and other active or passive safety features. They also feature smooth exteriors to reduce the consequences of an impact with unprotected pedestrians. In the UK the Department of Transport publishes road death and injury statistics for each type of accident and vehicle through its Road Casualties Great Britain report.[4] These statistics show a ten to one ratio of in-vehicle accident deaths between types of car. In most cars, occupants have a 2–8% chance of death in a two-car accident. At the other extreme, motorcyclists have little protection other than their clothing; this difference is reflected in the death and accident statistics, where they are more than twice as likely to suffer severely after a collision. In 2005 in there were 198,735 road accidents with 271,017 reported casualties on roads in Great Britain. This included 3,201 deaths (1.1%) and 28,954 serious injuries (10.7%) overall. Of these casualties 178,302 (66%) were car users and 24,824 (9%) were motorcyclists, of whom 569 were killed (2.3%) and 5,939 seriously injured (24%).[5] 
Research has shown that, across all accident types, it is less likely that seat belts were worn in accidents involving death or serious injury, rather than light injury; wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of death by about two thirds.[6] Some types of accident tend to have more serious consequences; rollovers have become more common in recent years, perhaps due to the increase in popularity of taller SUVs, people carriers and minivans which have more top weight than standard passenger cars. Rollovers can often be fatal, especially if the occupants are ejected because they were not wearing seat belts (83% of ejections during rollovers were fatal when the driver did not wear a seat belt, compared to 25% when they did).[6] After a new design of Mercedes Benz notoriously failed a 'moose test' (sudden swerving to avoid an obstacle), some manufacturers took efforts to enhance suspension using stability control linked to an anti-lock braking system in order to better address the risk of rollover. After retrofitting these systems to its models in 1999–2000, Mercedes saw its models feature in significantly fewer accidents[7] Now about 40% of new US vehicles, mainly the SUVs, vans and pickup trucks that are more susceptible to rollover, are being produced with a lower center of gravity and enhanced suspension with stability control linked to its anti-lock braking system in order to better address the risk of rollover, and meet US federal requirements that will mandate anti-rollover technology by September 2011.[8] Driver behaviour
Most drivers consider themselves to be "good" drivers.[9] One survey of drivers reported that they thought the key elements were:[10]
Although proficiency in these skills is taught and tested as part of the driving exam, a 'good' driver can still be at a high risk of accidents because:
Professor Smeed noted that drivers constantly balance risks as they drive, leading road authorities to attempt to mitigate the worse consequences of mishaps through road design. Ever since Buchanan's Traffic in Towns report of 1963 urban planning has sought to separate vehicles from pedestrians and make the driver's job easier. As traffic levels have increased, accompanied by more interventions by planners and road safety teams, accident levels have reduced, but generally not as much as was hoped. This difference is generally attributed to road users' attitudes and behaviours. Accompanying changes to road designs have been wide-scale adoptions of rules of the road alongside law enforcement policies that included drink-driving laws, setting of speed limits, and speed enforcement systems such as speed cameras, all with the intention of averting or reducing the severity of collisions. Some countries' driving tests have been expanded to test a new driver's behaviour during emergencies and hazard perception. However, in spite of training, there are still demographic differences in accident rates. So, for example, although young people tend to have good reaction speeds, disproportionately more young male drivers feature in accidents,[11] with researchers observing that many exhibit behaviours and attitudes to risk that can place them in more hazardous situations than other road users.[10] This gets reflected by actuaries when they set insurance rates for different age groups, partly based on their age, sex, and choice of vehicle. Older drivers with slower reactions would be expected to be involved in more accidents, but this has not been the case as they tend to drive less and, apparently, more cautiously.[12] Attempts to impose traffic policies can be complicated by local circumstances and driver behaviour. In 1969 Leeming warned that there is a balance to be struck when "improving" the safety of a road:[1]
This problem has been noted in risk compensation research, where the predicted reductions in accident rates have not occurred after legislative or technical changes. Instead, the introduction of improved brakes has heralded more aggressive driving,[13] while compulsory seat belt laws have not been accompanied by a clearly-attributed fall in overall fatalities.[14] This approach was rethought in Woonerf and, more recently, Shared space urban traffic schemes, which propose a street environment and design that encourages the road user to be aware of potential hazards by interacting with pedestrians and other road traffic, and to naturally negotiate a more cautious style of driving.[15] Driver impairment
A road user's capability is affected by the physical and mental ability to assess conditions and respond quickly. Studies[16] have established some common conditions that impair this judgement, including:
Several conditions can work together to create a much worse situation, for example:
Thus there are situations when a person may be impaired, but still legally allowed to drive, and becomes a potential hazard to themselves and other road users. Pedestrians or cyclists are affected in the same way and can similarly jeopardise themselves or others when on the road. Research suggests that the driver's attention is affected by distracting sounds such as conversations and operating a mobile phone while driving. Many jurisdictions now restrict or outlaw the use of some types of phone within the car. Recent research conducted by British scientists suggests that music can also have an effect; classic music is considered to be calming, yet too much could relax the driver to a condition of distraction. On the other hand, hard-rock may encourage the driver to step on the acceleration pedal, thus creating a potentially dangerous situation on the road.[19] Death and injury statisticsThe ability to deliver prompt medical attention has also improved through improvements in ambulance and rescue equipment, availability of air ambulances, rapid response units, and paramedic training, while design changes have made collisions more survivable. Thus injuries from a collision that once would have been fatal may now be averted, while remote locations may report few accidents but with more fatalities. For this reason modern accident statistics often focus on reportable injury accidents (which includes deaths) rather than reporting on deaths alone. It is also believed that serious accidents are often significantly under-reported, under-recorded and misclassified[20] and that the completeness of reporting may vary over time and between sources.[21] Local differences in requirements for reporting can sometimes make international comparisons of figures difficult. Trends in collision statistics
Road toll figures show that car collision fatalities have declined since 1980, with most countries showing a reduction of roughly 50%. This drop appears to confirm the efficacy of safety measures introduced thereafter, assuming that driver behaviour has not changed significantly. In the United States, fatalities have increased slightly from 40,716 in 1994 to 42,884 in 2003. However, in terms of fatalities per 100 million miles driven, the fatality rate has dropped 16% between 1995 and 2005. Injuries dropped 37% over the same period. (National Traffic Safety Administration, 2006). In addition, there are many variables that have been shown to statistically correlate to car accidents, including: drunk driving, road type, age of driver, and gasoline prices. It has been noted that road fatality trends tend to follow "Smeed's law" (named after R.J. Smeed, its author), an empirical rule relating injury rates to the two-thirds power of car ownership levels, and subsequently re-analysed by John Adams.[22] Common types of collisionStatistics are typically gathered on the direction of impact, or impacts. The most common collisions on the road where both parties are moving involve:
In the USA rollovers have contributed to more than 10,000 deaths a year even though they only account for about 3 percent of all crashes. Sometimes the vehicles in the collision can suffer more than one type of impact, such as during a shunt or high-speed spin. Backup collisionsBackup 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 ground, which fall in the car's blind spot. Large trucks have much larger blind spots that can hide entire vehicles and large adults. According to research by Kids and Cars – an organization devoted to preventing (non-traffic) motor-vehicle-related deaths and injuries – 49% of the non-traffic, non-crash fatalities involving children under 15 from 2001–2005 were caused by vehicles backing up. The CDC reported that from 2001–2003, an estimated 7,475 children (2,492 per year) under the age of 15 were treated for automobile back-over incidents. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that back-up collisions most often:[23]
The driver of the car backing up and hitting an object, a person, or another car is usually considered to be at fault. Prevention organizations suggest that parents use common sense, and also take safety measures such as installing cross view mirrors, audible collision detectors, rear view video camera and/or some type of reverse backup sensors. Furthermore, safer backing up is done when the driver turns completely around and looks out of the rear window of the car, rather than relying on mirrors. This provides a wider field of vision and better control of the vehicle. Legal consequencesCar collisions usually carry legal consequences in proportion to the severity of the crash. Nearly all common law jurisdictions impose some kind of requirement that parties involved in a collision (even with only stationary property) must stop at the scene, and exchange insurance or identification information or summon the police. Failing to obey this requirement is referred to as hit and run and is generally a criminal offence. However, most claims are settled without recourse to law. In this case, assuming that both parties carry adequate insurance, the claim is often handled between the two insurers. There may be financial penalties involved, such as an excess or deductible payment and a loss of a no-claims bonus or higher future premiums. Depending upon the circumstances, parties involved in an incident may face criminal liability, civil liability, or both. Usually, the state starts a criminal prosecution only if someone is severely injured or killed, or if one of the drivers involved was acting illegally or clearly grossly negligent or intoxicated or otherwise impaired at the time the accident occurred. Criminal charges might include driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, driving without due care (UK), assault with a deadly weapon (USA), manslaughter, or murder; penalties range from fines to jail time (USA) to prison time to death (where applicable). It is notable that the penalties for killing and injuring with motor vehicles are often very much less than for other actions with similar outcomes. As for civil liability, in places where healthcare is mainly provided through private insurance, such as the USA, automobile accident personal injury lawsuits have become the most common type of tort. Because of pre-existing case law, the courts usually need to decide only the factual questions of who is at fault, and their percentage of fault, as well as how much must be paid out in damages to the injured plaintiff by the defendant's insurer. For lesser offences civil action may result in fines or collecting points that invalidate the driver's licence, through a central government agency. Such complaints may be filed by a police officer, by other witnesses of an incident, or through remote enforcement such as CCTV or speed cameras. Some jurisdictions (notably US states) directly administer fines or suspend licenses imposed by civil or criminal authorities when a driver has violated the rules of the road and thus the terms of a driver's license. In some jurisdictions such administrative penalties may be imposed through quasi-criminal infractions; other jurisdictions do not recognize infractions and charge all violations, at a minimum, as misdemeanours or felonies. Some argue that the effect of a loss or injury due to a crash can be equivalent to that of a victim of crime under criminal law. Several campaigning organisations that provide support mechanisms also seek out an equivalent status within their jurisdictions[24] or draw attention to particular road safety issues and attitudes with the intention of introducing law reform (e.g. MADD). Collision preventionMechanical systemsAlthough many crashes are caused by behavior that is difficult to alter, by mechanical failure, or by road conditions, some technical solutions have been proposed that would automatically detect how close the driver is to the car in front and warn the driver or automatically adjust the car's acceleration to prevent the car from getting closer than the distance in which it can safely stop.
Policies for avoiding collisionsReasons suggested for young and inexperienced drivers being more likely to be in an accident include inexperience combined with over-confidence, peer pressure, a desire to show off, and even neurological development arguments.[26] It has been noticed that more of these types of serious collision occur at night, when the car has multiple occupants and when seat belt use is less.[10] This has led to some insurance companies and legislatures proposing:
To address accidents across all age ranges, some governments have also proposed measures such as:[27]
Some countries or states have already implemented some of these ideas. This increased risk for the young is known to the insurance companies, and premiums sometimes reflect that; however, very high premiums for young drivers do not seem to have had a significant impact on the crash statistics. Recent initiatives by some insurers, such as pay-as-you-drive, have been attempts to incentivise better driving behaviour by rewarding young drivers who make better choices about where and when to drive. They also recognise the benefits of driver training beyond the statutory minimum and often offer premium reductions after completion of a course of advanced driving. See also
Footnotes
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