Citation

Flora JD, O'Day J. Accid. Anal. Prev. 1981; 13(2): 117-132.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1981, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

Federal Motor Safety Standard No. 301--Fuel System Integrity--was first promulgated, effective 1 January 1968. Its purpose was to reduce the fatalities, injuries and damage caused by fires occurring in automobile crashes. It was subsequently strengthened (1 September 1975 and again 1 September 1976) and extended to all four wheel vehicles of Gross Vehicle Weight less than 10,000 pounds (1 September 1976). This paper uses existing police accident and fire department data from a total of 10 states to estimate the effects of FMVSS 301 on the passenger car crash population. Only very limited information on the rates of fuel spillage were found, so the paper concentrates on the rate of fires in crashes involving passenger cars. Some information on fatalities from the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) is also used. Post-crash passenger car fires are rare. Reported rates ranged from less than one per thousand crashes up to nearly five per thousand crashes. Rates averaged about two fires per thousand police reported crashes or about three fires per thousand towaway crashes. Fatalities are also quite rare. In 1976, 814 persons were killed in 683 vehicles that caught fire after a crash. In 1977, 982 persons died in 858 such vehicles. Fire department data proved only of supplemental use, because a car fire could not be identified with a crash. Police accident data showed smaller post-crash fire rates with newer model year cars. While this is consistent with a beneficial effect of FMVSS 301, it could also be caused by an increasing likelihood of fire in a crash for older cars. A linear trend in age for ear fire rates was statistically significant only in the Illinois data. Combining the data from 6 states showed a 16% reduction in post-crash passenger car fire rates coincident with the first promulgation of the FMVSS 301 in 1968. An additional 14% reduction occurred coincidently with the later versions starting with the 1976 model year. A total reduction of 25% was estimated comparing pre-standard models with the current standard. These reductions were all statistically significant. While it was not possible to eliminate the possibility that aging contributed to the observed reductions, or that other factors could have influenced these reductions, it seems reasonable to conclude that some of the benefit resulted from the standard.