The Risk of Injury and Vehicle Damage in Intersection Right-Angle Crashes

2005-01-0285

04/11/2005

Event
SAE 2005 World Congress & Exhibition
Authors Abstract
Content
We compared 4032 ‘intersection, right-angle’ crashes (IRC), and a random sample of other two-vehicle crashes, selected after stratifying on driver age from all police-reported crashes in British Columbia, Canada in 2002. The proportion of injured occupants varied from 20.8% (control crashes, older drivers) to 27.8% (IRC, younger drivers). Whiplash was the most frequently reported injury (8–10% of all vehicle occupants) but was less common in IRC crashes than other two-vehicle crashes. Overall the odds of injury was 30% higher in IRC crashes than other crashes after controlling for environmental factors. Damage to the vehicles was also markedly higher for IRC crashes. When extent of damage was controlled the odds of injury to occupants was only 13% higher. For specific injuries, however, notably concussion (OR = 1.89) and fracture (OR = 1.54), a significant increase in risk remained. Whiplash, in contrast, was significantly less frequent (OR = 0.85). IRC crashes typically involve lateral damage to one or both vehicles; these crashes are associated not only with a higher risk of vehicle damage but also with a higher risk of many types of injury beyond what may be due to vehicle damage. In short, intersection crashes are bad news; they require more effective strategies, both for vehicle design and for traffic control to reduce crashes and protect people when these crashes occur.
Meta TagsDetails
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4271/2005-01-0285
Pages
9
Citation
Chipman, M., Desapriaya, E., Brussoni, M., Han, G. et al., "The Risk of Injury and Vehicle Damage in Intersection Right-Angle Crashes," SAE Technical Paper 2005-01-0285, 2005, https://doi.org/10.4271/2005-01-0285.
Additional Details
Publisher
Published
Apr 11, 2005
Product Code
2005-01-0285
Content Type
Technical Paper
Language
English