Effect Of Vehicle Characteristics Research Articles

Effect of vehicle characteristics on crash severity: Portuguese experience

This research explores the crash severity for the population of crashes resulting in injuries and/or fatalities. Real world crash data were collected from the Portuguese Police Republican National Guard records...

Effect of vehicle characteristics on unpaved road dust emissions

This paper presents PM10 fugitive dust emission factors for a range of vehicles types and examines the influence of vehicle and wake characteristics on the strength of emissions from an unpaved road. Vertical profile measurements of mass concentration of the passing plumes were carried out using a series of 3 instrumented towers. PM10 emission fluxes at each tower were calculated from knowledge of the vertical mass concentration profile, the ambient wind speed and direction, and the time the plume took to pass the towers. The emission factors showed a strong linear dependence on speed and vehicle weight. Emission factors (EF=grams of PM10 emitted per vehicle kilometer traveled) ranged from approximately EF=0.8×(km h−1) for a light (∼1200 kg) passenger car to EF=48×(km h−1) for large military vehicles (∼18 000 kg). In comparison to emission estimates derived using US EPA AP-42 methods the measured emission factors indicate larger than estimated contributions for speeds generally>10–20 km h−1 and for vehicle weights>3000 kg. The size of a wake created by a vehicle was observed to be dependent on the size of the vehicle, increasing roughly linearly with vehicle height. Injection height of the dust plume is least important to long-range transport of PM10 under unstable conditions and most important under stable atmospheric conditions.

The effect of vehicle characteristics on drivers' risk-taking behaviour

There is evidence linking certain vehicle characteristics to crash involvement and one possible mechanism behind this relationship is that these vehicle characteristics influence drivers' risk-taking behaviour. In order to investigate this, we conducted a roadside observation survey and a questionnaire-based study. Both revealed a significant relationship between vehicle performance and drivers' risk-taking behaviour. The causal direction of this relationship has important consequences. If drivers' risk taking predicts their car choice, then it could be justifiably argued that individuals who take more risks when driving simply choose more powerful vehicles to facilitate their behaviour. However, if it is the case that vehicle characteristics adversely influence drivers' risk-taking propensity then this has implications for vehicle design. Results indicated that the causal pathway operates independently in both directions. Finally, we sought to determine which vehicle characteristics influenced risk-taking intentions independently of other confounded characteristics. We found that high vehicle performance and a greater number of safety features led independently to greater intended risk taking in general, while higher internal car noise led to closer car following and more risky gap acceptance, but not to greater speed. Vehicle smoothness and handling did not affect risk-taking intentions.

A book review of:Ian S. Jones, “The Effect of Vehicle Characteristics on Road Accidents” Pergamon Press 1976, pp. 219

A book review of:Ian S. Jones, “<i>The Effect of Vehicle Characteristics on Road Accidents</i>” Pergamon Press 1976, pp. 219