[Example 1 (Fig. 21)] Vehicle Alone Type Accident Vehicle A (standard passenger vehicle, driven by woman in her 30s) was traveling in lane 1 of a three-lane each way expressway at a speed of 90 km/h. In addition to the driver of vehicle A, passengers included one person in the front seat, an adult and a child in the first rear seat and one child in the second rear seat. A sudden powerful gust of wind from the side made the car drift to the left (A1). The driver tried to compensate by turning the steering wheel sharply to the right, causing the car to wander on the road. The car eventually turned over onto its side in lane 1. The two children sitting in the first and second rear seats were thrown out of vehicle, with the child in the second becoming a fatality.

[Example 2 (Fig. 22)] Vehicle Alone Type Accident   Vehicle A (a standard passenger vehicle, driven by a young man of 20) was traveling at the speed of 120 km/h down one lane of a two-lane each way expressway. The road had been completely drenched by the rain. Just as the driver had caught up to and passed another vehicle the steering wheel began to shudder from left to right and the car began meandering (A1). The passenger in the front seat also tried to help steady the steering wheel and bring the car under control but was unsuccessful and the car collided with the steel rope on the guardrail of the centeral median. The car was spinning to the right as the left front side collided with the guardrail rope. Continuing its spin, the left rear of the vehicle then hit the guardrail rope. Ultimately, two female passengers sitting in the rear seat, including an infant in the arms of the female (18 years old) on the left side, were thrown out of vehicle. The infant died, while the two passengers in the front seat escaped uninjured, as they were wearing seat belts.

[Example 3 (Fig. 23)] Vehicle to Vehicle Type Accident   Vehicle A (light truck, driven by a woman of 59 years) was driving along a road after dark. The vehicle stopped at a signal intersection in preparation to make a right turn (A2). The driver observed that vehicle B and another car were in the opposing lane. Thinking it had the right-of-way, vehicle A attempted to make the right turn. Vehicle B (standard passenger vehicle, driven by a 19-year-old woman) traveling at 65 km/h was unable to stop in time when vehicle A came into its path. Vehicle B collided with the left side of vehicle A, launching the vehicle A driver, who was not wearing a seatbelt, against and out through the passenger side window. The vehicle A driver suffered serious injury requiring three months of treatment.

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Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (ITARDA)