- by Brian Byrne
Crash rates drop dramatically in US
31 March 2003: Crash rates per mile travelled in North America have decreased by around 40 per cent in the period 1975-1998, according to recent research by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation in Ontario, Canada.
The study was inaugurated to check out concerns about the growing number of female drivers in the US involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes, and similar trends noted in other parts of the world.
Fatal crash data were obtained from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), mileage data from the National Personal Transportation Survey, and licensure data from the Federal Highway Administration.
The researchers found that many more women were licensed to drive in 1998 than in 1975, and on average they drove more miles.
An examination of the characteristics of their fatal crashes revealed that male and female drivers have seen similar reductions in single-vehicle, nighttime, and alcohol-related crashes. However, men continue to be involved more often in these types of crashes.
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