Motorized Vehicle Safety

This study explores the association between vehicle occupancy and a driver’s risk of causing a fatal crash, not wearing a seatbelt, and using alcohol. The survey population is the set of drivers represented in the Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) (years 1992 to 2002). The independent variables are driver age, driver gender, passenger age, passenger gender, and vehicle occupancy. The outcome variables are whether the driver was at fault in causing the fatal crash, whether the driver wore a seatbelt, and whether the driver had been using alcohol. For male teenager drivers, driving with...

Rural America accounts for a smaller and more dispersed portion of the nation’s population, yet it comprises a considerable portion of the transportation system. Rural areas account for approximately 83 percent of the land in the U.S and their roads account for 80 percent of the total U.S. road mileage and 40 percent of the vehicle miles traveled. Fatalities on rural roads surpass those in urban areas, even though urban areas are more densely populated and consequently, have a higher traffic flow. In 2001 alone, fatal crashes on rural areas accounted for 61 percent of all traffic...

This study was conducted by a team of researchers at the Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California at Berkeley, with funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety. Ted Chira-Chavala directed the study, coordinated the write-up of the final report, and wrote many chapters. Douglas Cooper was the key researcher, who performed the literature review, worked with key personnel of Upland Police Department to acquire essential data for the evaluation, analyzed the data, and contributed significantly to all chapters. David Gillen performed all time-series analyses and...

At-grade rail crossings provide different levels of warnings and/or barriers to alert drivers to the potential dangers presented by approaching trains. For some drivers, an activated warning system, rather than being a signal to stop, merely serves as a cue for the need to make a decision whether or not to cross. In California, for the ten-year period from 2001 to 2010, the result was 1,033 trainvehicle crashes resulting in 157 deaths and 458 injuries. The best solution to rail crossing crashes is to remove the need for the driver to engage in a potentially faulty decision-making process...