Heavy Goods Vehicles and Buses - European …...Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2016 – HGVs and Buses - 3 - Since 2004, the total number of fatalities involving HGVs in EU fell by almost

Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2013 - Main Figures

Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2016

Heavy Goods Vehicles and Buses

Traffic Safety Basic Facts 2016 – HGVs and Buses

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General

Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) are defined as goods vehicles of over 3,5 tons maximum permissible gross weight. Road accidents involving HGVs tend to be more severe than other accidents because of the mass of these vehicles. Buses and coaches are included here because they too are normally relatively large, although minibuses are categorized as buses in some countries.

Figure 1 shows that the number of deaths in accidents involving HGVs and in accidents involving buses or coaches fell between 2005 and 2014, but the EU total number of deaths also fell over this period.

Figure 1: Number of fatalities in accidents involving Heavy Goods Vehicles and buses or coaches and all road fatalities, EU, 2005-2014

Source: CARE database, data available in May 2016

The annual number of people killed in road accidents

involving HGVs and buses or coaches fell by nearly 50% between 2005 and 2014 in

EU.

http://www.erso.eu


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Since 2004, the total number of fatalities involving HGVs in EU fell by almost 50% (Table 1a).

Table 1a: Number of fatalities in accidents involving Heavy Goods Vehicles by country, 2005-2014

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

BE 161 133 156 122 117 111 116 111 100 130

BG - - - 200 179 - - - - -

CZ 240 215 220 169 163 175 159 139 124 138

DK 79 49 66 62 35 36 33 29 32 24

DE 684 719 687 625 536 534 564 812 759 601

EE 50 37 35 32 21 3 6 7 7 4

IE 51 57 40 44 22 13 20 12 22 -

EL 158 167 141 138 113 127 91 58 74 73

ES 714 659 528 452 353 333 297 245 217 262

FR 726 683 658 596 504 552 576 485 463 474

HR - - 104 119 77 44 37 29 41 39

IT 1.174 1.140 1.017 977 785 358 337 280 267 272

CY 0 1 1 0 0 1 - 1 3 0

LV 81 81 97 46 38 41 21 36 37 38

LT - - - - - - - - 42 33

LU 4 7 7 2 2 9 3 3 8 5

HU 251 239 218 173 118 144 101 118 106 112

MT 0 1 0 1 0 1 - - - -

NL 103 129 123 107 95 80 76 73 83 71

AT 126 120 89 111 81 97 70 77 50 51

PL 1.425 1.374 1.246 1.155 952 947 1.018 816 748 708

PT 163 130 145 112 120 95 107 77 80 78

RO 297 263 271 296 252 191 169 169 139 147

SI 21 4 20 7 12 7 6 3 7 -

SK 134 122 144 141 69 106 - - 34 -

FI 92 82 97 106 70 92 85 98 70 59

SE 61 83 92 72 45 41 46 41 30 55

UK 510 434 449 380 287 269 265 278 264 279

EU 7.609 7.233 6.851 6.245 5.046 4.586 4.490 4.211 3.945 3.863

Yearly Change

-4,9% -5,3% -8,8% -19,2% -9,1% -2,1% -6,2% -6,3% -2,1%

IS 3 2 4 4 3 1 2 1 1 4

NO 49 74 59 53 56 71 55 35 48 33

CH 46 40 34 39 45 29 33 35 31 25


Table 1b presents the number of people killed over the last ten years in accidents involving buses and coaches. The number of people killed in these accidents in the EU fell from over 1.333 in 2005 to 751 in 2014, a fall of almost 50%. The totals from this and the previous table are presented in Figure 1. They have fallen in parallel, with approximately five times as many people killed per year in accidents involving HGVs as in accidents involving buses or coaches.

Over 3.850 people died in road accidents involving

HGVs in 2014.

http://www.erso.eu


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Table 1b: Number of fatalities in accidents involving buses or coaches by country, 2005-2014

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 BE 19 31 30 23 22 17 23 31 23 19

BG - - - 36 58 - - - - -

CZ 31 34 35 27 28 20 26 21 21 18

DK 11 14 20 10 9 13 3 11 3 9

DE 108 86 94 75 66 91 64 66 82 73

EE 7 13 7 4 4 21 22 21 18 18

IE 11 11 7 10 7 7 2 10 7 -

EL 53 36 35 33 33 31 29 23 22 18

ES 108 102 73 81 69 51 48 40 37 54

FR 91 76 110 80 66 60 49 61 45 58

HR - - 20 38 11 6 8 16 12 6

IT 108 116 91 102 71 79 75 79 88 60

CY 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

LV 33 16 16 10 14 15 15 15 6 11

LT - - - - - - - - 7 7

LU 2 0 0 1 2 1 0 1 2 1

HU 62 64 48 33 39 41 50 26 26 40

MT 1 0 1 3 0 1 - - - -

NL 18 14 15 14 14 11 11 7 10 13

AT 10 19 17 9 15 17 1 12 8 9

PL 252 174 148 142 128 119 97 107 88 89

PT 23 13 33 21 15 21 20 18 16 14

RO 120 117 132 100 123 89 77 73 48 61

SI 8 2 2 4 8 3 3 2 4 -

SK 35 35 39 15 35 18 - - 14 -

FI 13 19 13 13 8 9 10 13 9 10

SE 13 36 15 13 17 16 16 18 11 12

UK 140 164 151 121 102 83 95 85 84 74

EU 1.333 1.250 1.188 1.017 963 898 821 830 743 751

Yearly Change

-6,3% -5,0% -14,4% -5,3% -6,8% -8,6% 1,2% -10,5% 1,1%

IS 1 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 0

NO 7 7 22 11 8 10 11 10 9 12

CH 20 22 9 15 5 7 11 39 4 6


More than 750 people died in road accidents involving

buses or coaches in 2014.

http://www.erso.eu


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Table 2 and Figure 2 present the percentage of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches of all road fatalities. Whereas the number of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches fell by nearly 50% between 2005 and 2014, the percentage of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches didn’t decrease considerably.

Table 2: Percentage of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches of all road fatalities, EU, 2005-2014

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Heavy Goods

Vehicles 17% 17% 16% 16% 14% 15% 15% 15% 15% 15%

Buses or Coaches

3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3%


Figure 2: Percentage of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches of all road fatalities, EU, 2005-2014


The risk of being killed in an accident involving HGVs and Buses can be compared for each Member State using the rate of deaths per million population. These rates are shown in Table 3 and Figure 3.

Whereas the number of fatalities in accidents

involving HGVs and buses or coaches fell by nearly 50%

between 2005 and 2014, the percentage of fatalities in

accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches didn’t decrease considerably.

http://www.erso.eu


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Table 3: Fatality rates per million population in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches by country, 2014 or latest available year

HGVs accidents Bus or Coach accidents

BE 11,6 1,7

BG - -

CZ 13,1 1,7

DK 4,3 1,6

DE 7,4 0,9

EE 3,0 13,7

IE - -

EL 6,7 1,6

ES 5,6 1,2

FR 7,4 0,9

HR 9,2 1,4

IT 4,5 1,0

CY 0,0 0,0

LV 19,0 5,5

LT 11,2 2,4

LU 9,1 1,8

HU 11,3 4,0

MT - -

NL 4,2 0,8

AT 6,0 1,1

PL 18,6 2,3

PT 7,5 1,3

RO 7,4 3,1

SI - -

SK - -

FI 10,8 1,8

SE 5,7 1,2

UK 4,3 1,2

EU 7,7 1,5

IS 12,3 0,0

NO 6,5 2,3

CH 3,1 0,7

Sources: CARE database (EUROSTAT for population data), data available in May 2016

The EU-average fatality rate in accidents involving HGVs is 7,7 per million population, and ranges from around 3 in Estonia to 19 in Latvia. For accidents involving buses or coaches, the EU-average fatality rate is 1,5 per million population.

Figure 3: Fatality rates per million population in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches by country, 2014 or latest available year

Sources: CARE database (EUROSTAT for population data), data available in May 2016

The EU-average fatality rate in accidents involving HGVs is

7,7 per million population. For accidents involving buses or coaches, the EU-average

fatality rate is 1,5 per million population.

The risk of being killed in a road accident involving a

HGV is highest in Latvia and Poland.

http://www.erso.eu


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Map 1: Distribution of road fatalities by country and mode of transport, 2014 or latest available year

In the following tables and figures, the CARE data for 2014 are analysed in greater detail. It should be noted that the latest available data are used, meaning 2009 data for BG, 2010 data for MT and 2013 data for IE, SI and SK.

http://www.erso.eu


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Age group and gender

Table 4 provides details of the age of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs.

Table 4: Total number and distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs by country and age group, 2014 or latest available year

0-14 15-17 18-24 25-49 50-64 65+ Unknown Total

BE 4% 8% 11% 36% 18% 22% 2% 130

BG 4% 2% 16% 41% 21% 17% 0% 179

CZ 1% 1% 12% 50% 20% 15% 1% 138

DK 0% 0% 21% 29% 13% 38% 0% 24

DE 1% 2% 11% 36% 22% 27% 0% 601

EE 0% 0% 0% 75% 25% 0% 0% 4

IE 0% 0% 9% 41% 23% 27% 0% 22

EL 1% 1% 11% 32% 26% 27% 1% 73

ES 2% 1% 7% 48% 22% 20% 1% 262

FR 4% 1% 16% 35% 19% 25% 0% 474

HR 3% 3% 8% 44% 23% 21% 0% 39

IT 2% 0% 10% 38% 24% 25% 2% 272

CY 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0

LV 0% 0% 3% 42% 24% 21% 11% 38

LT 6% 0% 9% 42% 33% 6% 3% 33

LU 0% 0% 0% 60% 40% 0% 0% 5

HU 2% 3% 7% 44% 29% 15% 0% 112

MT 0% 0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 0% 1

NL 4% 6% 10% 30% 15% 35% 0% 71

AT 2% 2% 10% 24% 33% 29% 0% 51

PL 2% 1% 13% 38% 25% 20% 0% 708

PT 1% 1% 8% 32% 36% 21% 1% 78

RO 5% 0% 8% 50% 26% 11% 0% 147

SI 0% 0% 57% 14% 29% 0% 0% 7

SK 3% 0% 6% 47% 35% 9% 0% 34

FI 2% 3% 19% 41% 8% 27% 0% 59

SE 4% 0% 7% 27% 25% 36% 0% 55

UK 3% 1% 12% 42% 16% 26% 0% 279

EU 2% 1% 12% 39% 23% 22% 1% 3.896

IS 0% 25% 25% 25% 25% 0% 0% 4

NO 0% 6% 6% 30% 33% 24% 0% 33

CH 8% 0% 24% 12% 16% 40% 0% 25


Relatively few children died in road accidents involving HGVs in 2014, and nearly

40% of fatalities were aged 25-49.

http://www.erso.eu


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Figure 4 illustrates the EU age distribution, and also includes the distribution for accidents involving buses or coaches.

Figure 4: Distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches by age group, EU, 2014


Table 5 provides gender details of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs.

Table 5: Total number and distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs by country and gender, 2014 or latest available year

Female Male Unknown Total

BE 29% 70% 1% 130

BG 21% 79% 0% 179

CZ 22% 78% 1% 138

DK 29% 71% 0% 24

DE 25% 75% 0% 601

EE 0% 100% 0% 4

IE 32% 68% 0% 22

EL 23% 77% 0% 73

ES 20% 80% 0% 262

FR 30% 70% 0% 474

HR 18% 82% 0% 39

IT 23% 77% 0% 272

CY 0% 0% 0% 0

LV 26% 74% 0% 38

LT 21% 79% 0% 33

LU 20% 80% 0% 5

HU 23% 77% 0% 112

MT 0% 100% 0% 1

NL 35% 65% 0% 71

AT 33% 67% 0% 51

PL 24% 76% 0% 708

PT 23% 77% 0% 78

RO 20% 80% 0% 147

SI 43% 57% 0% 7

SK 21% 79% 0% 34

FI 25% 75% 0% 59

SE 33% 67% 0% 55

UK 29% 71% 0% 279

EU 25% 75% 0% 3.896

IS 50% 50% 0% 4

NO 21% 79% 0% 33

CH 36% 64% 0% 25


Three quarters of the fatalities in accidents

involving HGVs were male.

http://www.erso.eu


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Figure 5 illustrates the EU distribution, and also includes the distribution

for accidents involving buses or coaches. The percentage of female

fatalities in the latter accidents is higher than in the HGVs ones.

Figure 5: Distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches by gender, EU, 2014


The percentage of female fatalities in accidents

involving Buses or Coaches is higher than in the HGVs ones.

http://www.erso.eu


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Type of casualties

Accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches injured those outside the vehicles as well as their occupants. Across the EU, 13% of those killed in HGV accidents in 2014 were occupants of HGVs, and 15% of those killed in bus or coach accidents were occupants of buses or coaches. Table 6 lists those killed in these accidents by road user type. The distributions are illustrated in Figure 6.

Table 6: Number and distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches by road user type, EU, 2014

Accidents involving

HGVs

fatalities %

Buses or Coaches fatalities

%

HGV occupant 499 13% 13 2%

Bus or Coach occupant 19 0% 117 15%

Car occupant 1.898 49% 289 38%

Light GV occupant 203 5% 14 2%

Moped rider 76 2% 14 2%

Motorcycle rider 214 5% 39 5%

Pedal cyclist 277 7% 52 7%

Pedestrian 664 17% 213 28%

Other/unknown 45 1% 7 1%

EU 3.896 100% 758 100%


Figure 6: Distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches by road user type, EU, 2014


Nearly half of those who died in 2014 in road

accidents that involved HGVs were travelling by car.

Almost 30% of those who died in 2014 in road

accidents that involved buses or coaches were pedestrians.

http://www.erso.eu


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Area and Road type

The CARE data show whether accidents occurred on motorways and, for non-motorway accidents, whether on urban or rural roads. Table 7 shows the distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs. The results for the EU countries are illustrated in Figure 7 for HGV accidents and for Bus or Coach accidents.

Table 7: Distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs by country and road type, 2014 or latest available year

Motorway Non-motorway

Unknown Total Rural Urban

BE 36% 42% 22% 0% 130

BG 3% 72% 25% 179

CZ 10% 72% 18% 138

DK 38% 42% 21% 24

DE 28% 45% 27% 601

EE 0% 50% 50% 4

IE 5% 73% 23% 22

EL 19% 56% 25% 73

ES 26% 64% 10% 262

FR 15% 65% 20% 474

HR 15% 38% 46% 39

IT 31% 47% 21% 272

CY 0% 0% 0% 0

LV 0% 76% 24% 38

LT 0% 0% 0% 100% 33

LU 0% 80% 20% 5

HU 12% 71% 18% 112

MT 0% 0% 100% 1

NL 24% 45% 20% 11% 71

AT 18% 55% 27% 51

PL 4% 63% 33% 708

PT 15% 62% 23% 78

RO 3% 55% 42% 147

SI 29% 43% 29% 7

SK 18% 59% 24% 34

FI 5% 86% 8% 59

SE 24% 58% 16% 2% 55

UK 13% 57% 30% 279

EU 16% 58% 25% 1% 3.896

IS 0% 100% 0% 4

NO 0% 85% 15% 33

CH 20% 32% 48% 25


58% of fatalities in HGV accidents in 2014 occurred in

rural areas; in Finland, this percentage is higher than

85%.

http://www.erso.eu


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Figure 7: Distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches by road type, EU, 2014


45% of fatalities in Bus or Coach accidents occurred in

urban areas.

http://www.erso.eu


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Day of the week and Time of the day

The distribution of fatalities by time of the day was examined by dividing the day into six 4-hour periods. This is shown for HGV accidents in Table 8. The hourly rates are relatively high between 08:00 and 20:00 in all countries.

Table 8: Total number and distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs by country and time of day, 2014 or latest available year

00:00- 03:59

04:00- 07:59

08:00- 11:59

12:00- 15:59

16:00- 19:59

20:00- 23:59

Total

BE 12% 22% 24% 22% 16% 5% 130

BG 7% 11% 21% 22% 25% 15% 179

CZ 7% 20% 25% 25% 11% 12% 137

DK 8% 13% 33% 33% 8% 4% 24

DE 5% 16% 29% 30% 15% 5% 601

EE 0% 0% 25% 0% 0% 75% 4

IE 5% 9% 45% 36% 0% 5% 22

EL 5% 11% 23% 19% 30% 11% 73

ES 7% 14% 23% 21% 26% 9% 262

FR 5% 12% 33% 23% 20% 7% 474

HR 3% 21% 28% 18% 31% 0% 39

IT 8% 10% 23% 23% 26% 9% 272

CY 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0

LV 5% 18% 18% 26% 29% 3% 38

LT 12% 12% 12% 21% 21% 21% 33

LU 0% 0% 20% 40% 40% 0% 5

HU 11% 16% 24% 24% 20% 5% 112

MT 0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 0% 1

NL 1% 8% 30% 25% 30% 6% 71

AT 8% 8% 37% 27% 16% 4% 51

PL 8% 15% 19% 24% 19% 14% 708

PT 4% 13% 31% 17% 29% 6% 78

RO 7% 16% 16% 30% 23% 7% 147

SI 0% 71% 0% 14% 14% 0% 7

SK 12% 18% 26% 21% 15% 9% 34

FI 17% 3% 22% 24% 27% 7% 59

SE 0% 7% 31% 45% 11% 5% 55

UK 7% 14% 28% 30% 15% 6% 279

EU 7% 14% 25% 25% 20% 9% 3.896

IS 0% 0% 25% 50% 25% 0% 4

NO 9% 12% 18% 36% 12% 12% 33

CH 0% 12% 24% 40% 24% 0% 25


The hourly fatality rate in road accidents involving

HGVs in 2014 in the EU is high between 8am and

16pm.

http://www.erso.eu


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Table 9: Total number and distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs by country and day of the week, 2014 or latest available year

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Total BE 21% 15% 17% 12% 18% 15% 2% 130

BG 9% 11% 15% 12% 26% 17% 11% 179

CZ 19% 14% 17% 17% 20% 8% 4% 138

DK 21% 17% 13% 8% 29% 4% 8% 24

DE 20% 18% 16% 17% 19% 8% 1% 601

EE 0% 0% 0% 25% 75% 0% 0% 4

IE 18% 9% 18% 9% 36% 5% 5% 22

EL 11% 18% 21% 11% 16% 5% 18% 73

ES 14% 18% 13% 20% 17% 10% 7% 262

FR 15% 22% 17% 18% 20% 7% 1% 474

HR 13% 3% 23% 23% 28% 8% 3% 39

IT 18% 17% 19% 17% 19% 7% 3% 272

CY 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0

LV 24% 5% 24% 21% 16% 8% 3% 38

LT 12% 18% 12% 18% 15% 18% 6% 33

LU 40% 20% 0% 40% 0% 0% 0% 5

HU 18% 15% 13% 25% 18% 7% 4% 112

MT 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 100% 0% 1

NL 21% 10% 24% 24% 18% 3% 0% 71

AT 18% 8% 20% 20% 24% 6% 6% 51

PL 16% 16% 16% 15% 20% 10% 7% 708

PT 22% 22% 27% 22% 5% 3% 0% 78

RO 13% 17% 15% 10% 22% 13% 10% 147

SI 0% 14% 14% 14% 14% 43% 0% 7

SK 24% 18% 26% 9% 12% 9% 3% 34

FI 17% 20% 27% 12% 8% 8% 7% 59

SE 18% 11% 16% 20% 29% 0% 5% 55

UK 17% 15% 18% 16% 22% 6% 5% 279

EU 16,9% 16,6% 17,0% 16,6% 19,6% 8,6% 4,7% 3.896

IS 25% 0% 0% 25% 0% 0% 50% 4

NO 27% 21% 6% 15% 18% 3% 9% 33

CH 8% 48% 8% 28% 8% 0% 0% 25


Figure 8 illustrates the EU distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches by day of the week and time of the day. For HGVs most accidents occurred between 08:00 and 12:00 on Monday to Thursday and in the afternoon on Friday. For buses and coaches accident occurred especially at night on Saturday and in the afternoon on Sundays.

Figure 8: Distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs and buses or

coaches by day of the week and time of the day, EU, 2014 or latest

available year

HGV accidents Bus or Coach accidents


For buses and coaches accident occurred especially at night on Saturday and in the

afternoon on Sundays.

The fatality rate in road accidents involving HGVs in

2014 was much lower at the weekend than on weekdays.

http://www.erso.eu


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Seasonality

Table 10 shows the distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs through the year, using pairs of months. The peak period varies between countries, and for the EU it is September-October.

Table 10: Total number and distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs by country and month, 2014 or latest available year

Jan-Feb Mar-Apr May-Jun Jul-Aug Sep-Oct Nov-Dec Total BE 14% 25% 18% 15% 18% 10% 130

BG 15% 10% 12% 22% 24% 17% 179

CZ 9% 12% 14% 21% 22% 21% 138

DK 33% 13% 0% 4% 13% 38% 24

DE 11% 17% 17% 18% 20% 16% 601

EE 0% 0% 0% 0% 75% 25% 4

IE 14% 23% 18% 14% 32% 0% 22

EL 19% 11% 14% 19% 19% 18% 73

ES 12% 16% 19% 17% 18% 18% 262

FR 14% 13% 16% 19% 21% 17% 474

HR 21% 3% 13% 28% 23% 13% 39

IT 12% 18% 16% 22% 18% 15% 272

CY 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0

LV 13% 13% 5% 42% 13% 13% 38

LT 18% 15% 15% 18% 21% 12% 33

LU 0% 0% 40% 20% 20% 20% 5

HU 8% 20% 17% 19% 18% 19% 112

MT 0% 0% 0% 100% 0% 0% 1

NL 15% 17% 17% 11% 21% 18% 71

AT 22% 14% 22% 12% 24% 8% 51

PL 13% 14% 21% 17% 18% 17% 708

PT 15% 10% 19% 17% 22% 17% 78

RO 12% 10% 22% 18% 19% 19% 147

SI 14% 43% 14% 14% 14% 0% 7

SK 9% 18% 18% 24% 18% 15% 34

FI 20% 15% 17% 12% 14% 22% 59

SE 5% 20% 15% 20% 15% 25% 55

UK 12% 16% 18% 18% 13% 23% 279

EU 13% 15% 18% 18% 19% 17% 3.896

IS 50% 25% 0% 25% 0% 0% 4

NO 24% 3% 24% 9% 24% 15% 33

CH 8% 12% 12% 16% 36% 16% 25


Figure 9 illustrates the EU distribution. It includes the distribution for accidents involving buses or coaches, which peaks in November-December.

There was little variation through the year in the

fatality rate in road accidents involving HGVs in 2014; the peak months are September

and October.

http://www.erso.eu


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Figure 9: Distribution of fatalities in accidents involving HGVs and buses or coaches by month, EU, 2014


The rate for accidents involving buses or coaches in 2014 peaked in November

and December.

http://www.erso.eu


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Accident Causation

During the EC SafetyNet project, in-depth data were collected using a common methodology for samples of accidents that occurred in Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and the UK12. The SafetyNet Accident Causation Database was formed between 2005 and 2008, and contains details of 1.006 accidents covering all injury severities. A detailed process for recording causation (SafetyNet Accident Causation System – SNACS) attributes one specific critical event to each driver, rider or pedestrian. Links then form chains between the critical event and the causes that led to it. For example, the critical event of late action could be linked to the cause observation missed, which was a consequence of fatigue, itself a consequence of an extensive driving spell.

In the database, 16% (158) of the accidents involve HGV or bus drivers. Minibuses are included in the bus category in the database. HGV drivers account for 79% of this group and bus drivers 21%, with 94% being male. Figure 10 compares the distributions of specific critical events for HGV or bus drivers and other drivers or riders in HGV/bus accidents.

Figure 10: Distribution of specific critical events - HGV or bus drivers and other drivers/riders in HGV/bus accidents

Source: SafetyNet Accident Causation Database 2005 to 2008 / EC; N=289; Date of query: 2010

Of the specific critical events under the general category of ‘timing’, premature action and late action are both more frequent for HGV and bus drivers, with no action higher for the other drivers/riders. A premature action is one undertaken before a signal has been given or the required conditions are established, for example entering a junction before it is clear of other traffic.

1 SafetyNet D5.5, Glossary of Data Variables for Fatal and Accident Causation Databases 2 SafetyNet D5.8, In-Depth Accident Causation Database and Analysis Report

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

No action Premature action

(initiated too early) Late action

Incorrect direction (includes leaving road)

Surplus speed Surplus force

(excess acceleration or braking) Shortened distance

(road user(s)/environment too close) Prolonged action/movement

(continued on too long) Skipped action

Insufficient speed

Other

Proportion of drivers/riders

HGV/bus drivers n=167 other drivers/riders in HGV/bus accidents n=122

Specific critical events relating to ‘timing’ are

recorded for 52% of HGV or bus drivers in the sample.

http://www.erso.eu


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The next two specific critical events of incorrect direction and surplus speed are both higher for the other drivers/riders, although only slightly more for incorrect direction. Incorrect direction refers to a manoeuvre being carried out in the wrong direction (for example, turning left instead of right) or leaving the road (not following the intended direction of the road). Surplus speed describes speed that is too high for the conditions or manoeuvre being carried out, travelling above the speed limit and also if the driver is travelling at a speed unexpected by other road users.

Table 11 gives the most frequent links between causes for HGV or bus drivers/riders. For this group there are 195 such links in total. Like the car driver group, faulty diagnosis and observation missed are the two dominant causes. Faulty diagnosis is an incorrect or incomplete understanding of road conditions or another road user’s actions. It is linked to both information failure (for example, a driver thinking another vehicle was moving when it was in fact stopped and colliding with it) and communication failure (for example, pulling out in the continuing path of a driver who has indicated for a turn too early). Unlike the car driver group, the most frequent cause leading to observation missed is permanent sight obstruction. This refers to vehicle blind spots on these larger vehicles, where drivers cannot see part of the road infrastructure or other road users. Also observed for these larger vehicles are causes leading to equipment failure, both unpredictable system functions/characteristics (covering problems with vehicle load) and poor maintenance.

22% of the links between causes are observed to be between ‘faulty diagnosis’ and ‘information failure’.

http://www.erso.eu


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Table 11: Ten most frequent links between causes – HGV or bus drivers

Links between causes Frequency

Faulty diagnosis - Information failure (between driver and traffic environment or driver and vehicle)

43

Observation missed - Permanent sight obstruction 23

Observation missed - Distraction 13 Equipment failure - Unpredictable system functions/characteristics

10

Observation missed - Faulty diagnosis 8

Observation missed - Permanent obstruction to view 7

Observation missed - Inadequate plan 6

Equipment failure - Maintance failure – condition of vehicle 6

Observation missed - Inattention 5

Observation missed - Temporary obstruction to view 5

Others 69

Total 195 Source: SafetyNet Accident Causation Database 2005 to 2008 / EC; Date of query: 2010

http://www.erso.eu


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Notes

1. Country abbreviations

Belgium BE Italy IT Romania RO

Bulgaria BG Cyprus CY Slovenia SI

Czech Republic CZ Latvia LV Slovakia SK

Denmark DK Lithuania LT Finland FI

Germany DE Luxembourg LU Sweden SE

Estonia EE Hungary HU United Kingdom UK

Ireland IE Malta MT

Greece EL Netherlands NL Iceland IS

Spain ES Austria AT Liechtenstein LI

France FR Poland PL Norway NO

Croatia HR Portugal PT Switzerland CH

2. Sources: CARE (Community database on road accidents) The full glossary of definitions of variables used in this Report is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/pdf/statistics/cadas_glossary.pdf 3. Data available in May 2016. 4. Data refer to 2014 and when not available the latest available data are used (2009 data for BG, 2010 data for MT, and 2013 data for IE, SI and SK). Totals and related average percentages for EU also include latest available data. 5. Lithuanian data are not included in the totals of data comparing the years 2005-2014. 6. At the commenting of the tables and figures, countries with small figures are omitted. 7. This 2016 edition of Traffic Safety Basic Facts updates the previous versions produced within the EU co-funded research projects SafetyNet and DaCoTA. 8. Disclaimer This report has been produced by the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), the Austrian Road Safety Board (KFV) and the European Union Road Federation (ERF) under a contract with the European Commission. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the matter presented in this report is relevant, accurate and up-to-date, the Partners cannot accept any liability for any error or omission, or reliance on part or all of the content in another context. Any information and views set out in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained therein. 9. Please refer to this Report as follows: European Commission, Traffic Safety Basic Facts on Heavy Goods Vehicles and Buses, European Commission, Directorate General for Transport, June 2016.

http://www.erso.eu

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/pdf/statistics/cadas_glossary.pdf

http://www.nrso.ntua.gr/

http://www.kfv.at/department-transport-mobility/

http://www.irfnet.eu/

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/index_en.htm


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http://www.erso.eu

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