This report presents information from a sample of 5,471 crashes investigated during a two-and-a-half- year period from July 3, 2005, to December 31, 2007. Descriptions of the survey methodology as well as case studies have been provided to illustrate the nature of the information collected by NMVCCS researchers. The primary focus of NMVCCS researchers was to determine the critical pre-crash events and the reasons underlying the critical event through a thorough assessment of all possible contributing factors related to the drivers, vehicles, roadways, and the environment. This report presents...

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the total resident population of the United States increased from 151 million in 1950 to 296 million in 2005, representing an average annual growth rate of 1.2 percent. As the population ages, there is a growing need for vehicle safety to suit older occupants. This study examines the relationship between age and the incidence of thoracic injuries in different motor vehicle crashes.

Speeding is reported in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) as a driver-level attribute that combines "driving too fast for conditions" or "in excess of posted speed limit." There is a growing need to parse out these two factors, especially for those designing countermeasures. The report, using data from the State Data System quantifies the extent of these two aspects related to speeding using data from six States whose police accident reports actually parse these out.

The work details the Counts of Frontal Air Bag Related Fatalities and Seriously Injured Persons as of January 1, 2009

The purpose of this report is to document the survey design used for the initial data collection of the National Survey of the Use of Booster seats (NSUBS). The initial data collection occurred in 2006. Although this report is being published after the second data collections (which occurred in 2007) and as NHTSA is preparing for the third data collection (in 2008), this report serves as important documentation as the design used for subsequent NSUBS data collections were based on the design documented in this report, incorporating relatively minor changes in methodology. NHTSA expects to...

This purpose of this report is to determine the effect of rear turn signal color on the likelihood of being involved in a rear-end crash. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 allows rear turn signals to be either red or amber in color. Previous work on this subject includes laboratory experiments and analyses of crash data that suggest amber rear turn signals are beneficial. The present study was designed around the concept of "switch pairs" - make-models of passenger vehicles were identified that had switched rear turn signal color, and crash involvement rates were computed before...

nThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) existing Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and National Automotive Sampling System - General Estimates System (NASS-GES) already provide information regarding backing crashes that occur on public traffic ways. However, data regarding non-traffic backovers (and other backing crashes), those which occur on private roads, driveways, and parking lots, have not routinely been collected by NHTSA. In response to SAFETEA-LU Sections 2012 and 10305 and Section 2(f) of the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007,...

The Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) is a program facilitated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as a component of its State Data Program. CODES uniquely uses probabilistic methodology to link crash records to injury outcome records collected at the scene and en route by emergency medical services, by hospital personnel after arrival at the emergency department or admission as an inpatient and/or, at the time of death, on the death certificate. CODES is designed to foster and cultivate crash-outcome data linkage for highway safety applications at the State...

This work describes the statistical analyses based on data for calendar years 1995 to 2007 from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the General Estimates System (GES) of the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) estimate the long-term effectiveness of antilock brake systems (ABS) for passenger cars and LTVs (light trucks and vans) subsequent to the 1995 launch of public information programs on how to use ABS correctly.

In recent years, on average about 44 percent of traffic fatalities occurred in urban areas. NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) codes the functional classification of land use by a binary indicator, i.e., if the location is a rural or urban area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau. However, this information is not enough to determine the spatial spread of the fatalities in the rural areas, i.e., are the fatalities occurring in suburban, exurban, or the outlying rural areas. The focus of this report is to determine the extent of fatalities that occur in rural areas...