Heavy vehicle stability versus crash rates

This report examines and compares performance measures of the New Zealand Heavy Vehicle Fleet with those involved in crashes classified as rollover or loss of control.

Linear regression techniques were used to find relationships between vehicle performance measures calculated by computer simulation and vehicle parameters. Algorithms were developed to assess vehicle performance measures based on simple and easily obtainable vehicle parameters.

The algorithms were then applied to a sample of vehicles obtained from the Road User Charge (RUC) surveys to determine the distribution of these performance measures among the general fleet of combination vehicles and to a second sample obtained from the Commercial Vehicle Inspection Unit (CVIU) crash reports of combination vehicles involved in rollover/loss of control crashes. By comparing the distribution of a performance measure for the crashed vehicles with that for the general fleet we can see whether there is a relationship between the performance measure and the crash rate.

Full PDF version: Heavy vehicle stability versus crash rates (135 KB, 53 pages)

You can download
Adobe Reader to access PDF files

Page created: 13 June 2008