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This paper reports recent work undertaken by the Oxford Road Accident Group to improve the utility of the CRASH 2 (Calspan Reconstruction of Accident Speeds on the Highway) program. Although CRASH 2 is being used extensively in the U.S.A. for accident reconstruction, its use in Europe is limited. The accident environment in Europe is sufficiently different from that in the United States that it has been suggested that the program could be of limited use under these conditions. Accordingly, to provide reliable figures as to the utility of the program under European conditions a representative sample of accidents has been reconstructed using CRASH 2: the sample consisted of 200 accidents investigated on-scene and 200 accidents investigated on a 48 hour follow-up basis. Results are presented which give the proportion of accidents that could be successfully CRASHed together with the reasons for not running CRASH.

This paper examines the effects that downsizing has had on occupant injury. Statistical models are derived which demonstrate the relative risks associated with downsized cars and restraint use. Then actual occupant injuries are analysed to show how the total pattern of occupant injuries changes with downsizing. Each additional thousand pounds of vehicle mass decreases the odds of a driver injury in a crash by 34 percent when the driver is not restrained. For restrained drivers, this decrease is 25 percent per thousand. Restraint use further decreases the odds of a driver injury by two-thirds. To gain the same reduction in injury odds afforded the belted driver of a 2500 pound passenger car, the unbelted driver requires a 4325 pound car. For unrestrained occupants, the instrument panel, steering assembly and windshield (in frontal impacts) are the most frequent sources of injury.