Daniel Convissor's Website

Relationship Between Motor Vehicle Speeds and Pedestrian Injuries

[GRAPH: click here to download.]

Graph created by Cora Roelofs of Komanoff Energy Associates, published in the Auto-Free Press, Transportation Alternatives, March/April 1993. Graph created from data found in Dieter Seinfried, Gute Argumente: Verker; Munich, CH Beck 1991.

Text Interpretation of Above Graph
Speed (mph) Minor Injury Major Injury Death
3 55% 5% 0%
6 100% 10% 0%
9 100% 20% 0%
20 100% 45% 15%
25 100% 60% 25%
30 100% 70% 40%
35 100% 90% 50%
40 100% 100% 70%
45 100% 100% 95%
50 100% 100% 100%

 

Effect of Speed Reductions (based on data above)
Speed Reduction Reduction Minor Major  
to x from y (MPH) in Speed Injury Injury Death
25 from 35 (29%) 0% (33%) (50%)
30 from 40 (25%) 0% (30%) (43%)
35 from 45 (22%) 0% (10%) (47%)
 
25 from 30 (17%) 0% (14%) (38%)
30 from 35 (14%) 0% (22%) (20%)
35 from 40 (13%) 0% (10%) (29%)
 
25 from 40 (38%) 0% (40%) (64%)


Date: Thu, 02 Feb 1995
From: JACOBSENP@delphi.com
Subject: Speed vs. injury
To: danielc@panix.com

You might be interested in obtaining a copy of the report: Vehicle Travel Speeds and the Incidence of Fatal Pedestrian Collisions from the (Australian) Federal Office of Road Safety, GPO Box 594; Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

From the exec. summary: "A reduction of 5 km/hr in vehicle travelling speeds in the Adelaide area could be expected to result in a reduction of 30 percent of the incidence of fatal pedestrian collisions."

They also quoted another study (Proctor) that found chance of a fatality as follows:

Chance of Fatality
speed %
20 5
30 37
45 83

They also discuss the benefits of lower speeds in terms of stopping distance and reaction time distance.


From: D.Robinson
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.misc
Subject: Stats on head injuries and cycle activity following mandatory helmets 
Date: 15 Jan 94 08:25:15 GMT
Around the same time as mandatory cycle helmets were introduced in Victoria, a range of other road safety measures including speed cameras and increased random breath testing were introduced. The effect on head injuries to pedestrians was most significant. From 1989 to 1992, Transport Accident Claims for head injuries to pedestrians fell by 33%, and the proportion of head to total pedestrian injuries by 21% Despite the massive increases in helmet wearing noted above, over the same time period, the reduction of head to total injuries for TAC claims by cyclists fell by a mere 11%.

 


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Last updated: 7 April 1999