CAR CHARACTERISTICS AND SAFETY

This paper aims at analysing accident rate and fatality rate according to car characteristics such as mass and horsepower, taking into account accidents and exposure data. Accident rate is defined as the number of accident per kilometres travelled. Fatality rate is the ratio of fatalities per vehicles involved in accident: it is differentiated for the victims inside vehicles (protection) and those outside (aggressiveness). The data are drawn from two sources: (1) the French national police file of injury producing accidents that occurred in 1990, and (2) a national survey on drivers' mobility during 1990. The results show that light vehicles with high performances have a higher risk to be involved in accident per kilometres travelled. Considering internal and external fatality rate, it appears that the heavier vehicles provide that best internal protection and are the most dangerous for other road users. In terms of global fatality rate (both internal and external , the lightest vehicles are better, except for the particular category of light vehicles with high horsepower. Drivers' age and accident location, inside or outside urban area, are also taken into account, insofar as it influences risk and fatality rate, and increases differences between various European countries. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 866319. (A)