AN ANALYSIS OF FIRES IN PASSENGER CARS, LIGHT TRUCKS, VANS, DOT-HS-808-208, December 1994.

ABSTRACT

This report presents findings from a study of historical crash data on fire occurrence in fatal and less serious crashes, as a function of crash, vehicle, and driver characteristics that influence the likelihood of postcollision vehicle fires.

The report is organized into four sections, using crash data for vehicles model year 1978 and later. The first two sections both use 1979 - 1992 data from the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS). The first section presents raw tabulation of the FARS data on fire occurrence in fatal crashes, while the second section constructs multivariate statistical models using these data. The third section of the report examines raw data from the crash fires for the State of Michigan for 1982 - 1991. Data from Michigan was used in this study and the Michigan police accident report (PAR) captures data on fuel leaks. This data on fuel leaks and fire occurrence in traffic crashes was used to estimate the relationship between fires and fuel leaks. The fourth section used data from NHTSA's National Accident Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System (NASS CDS) on the incidence of burn injuries in crashes.