Publication Details

Safety issues related to mini-cars from a roadway perspective

Type: conferencePapers

Author(s): Council, Forrest M.; Reinfurt, Donald W.

Collection title: SAE technical paper series

Pages: 870233

Publisher: SAE International

Url: https://www.sae.org/content/870233/

Publication Date: Feb-1987

Volume: 1

Issn: 0148-7191

Doi: 10.4271/870233

Address: 400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA, United States

Abstract: Because mini-cars are less safe in both multivehicle and single vehicle collisions, a project was initiated to identify those types of accidents (and accident-related circumstances) where the small vehicle are overrepresented in either crashes or crash injuries. The analysis involved accident and roadway data from the States of Washington, Texas and North Carolina and computer simulation runs related to vehicle dynamics. Results include the general finding of increased rollover propensity of these small vehicles in almost all type crashes, with specific problems with roadside shoulder and sideslope design, ditches in rural areas, pavement edgedrop, culverts and catch basins, median barrier faces, rural traffic islands, utility poles, and with head-on collisions on curves where the mini-car is more often the striking vehicle. Potential treatments were identified for many of these issues, and research plans were prepared.

Conference name: SAE International Congress and Exposition

Conference_proceedings_title: SAE Technical Paper Series