The Accident Research Unit Hannover as Example for Importance and Benefit of Existing In Depth Investigations

The In-Depth Investigations of the Accident Research Unit Hannover (Germany), which have been carried out since 1973 are described in the paper. The importance of the detailed analysis consists in the method, in the statistical approach and the continuous data collection over the years. The government as well as industrial manufacturers use this data. Since 1985 a statistical procedure including a mathematical weighting procedure has been applied. About 1000 cases per year are collected.

In the paper, principal aspects in the technique of data collection, definitions of variables and possibilities of data usage are described. The limitations of in-depth investigations are discussed in principle, and demands for a worldwide level are pointed out.