ACCIDENTS INVOLVING LOSS OF CONTROL WHEN BRAKING - A STUDY OF THE ON-THE-SPOT SURVEY DATA

The paper discusses accident studies carried out "on-the-spot: by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory to assess the contributions of road, vehicle and road user to highway accidents. The paper examines in particular the 8% of accidents in which control of a car was lost when braking. Drivers were usually travelling too fast for either the road layout or for unexpected traffic hazards. Braking loss of control ultimately resulted in spinning and drifting. The study showed that while there is no serious fault in the braking balance of cars generally, more attention to the condition of brakes and tyres would make a contribution to greater safety. The most effective introduction would be the fitting of front and rear anti-locking braking systems. /TRRL/