Examinations of Crash Contributing Factors Using National Crash Databases

Overview

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Intelligent Vehicle Initiative is focused on improving the safety of the nation's highways through the continued development and deployment of advanced-technology crash avoidance systems. This research furthers the understanding of the critical event dynamics that precede specific types of crashes and quantifies the crash contributing factors for the crash types. In particular, this report is focused on single vehicle offroadway, rear-end, and lane change crashes involving light vehicles (passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and pickup trucks).