MULTILEVEL STUDY OF ACCIDENT CAUSATION AND AVOIDANCE. PHASE IA: PLANNING REPORT

The case study approach, focusing on the causes of individual accidents, has been the basis of most previous accident-causation research. An alternative is the statistical inference approach, a probabilistic model. This model is able to deal with complex, interactive phenomena by isolating the influence of particular factors. Also, the method is compatible with the NASS. The approach may be formulated in terms of multidimensional contingency tables, illustrated in the report by a 2X2 table. There is a growing body of theory concerning such tables and computer programs are available to assist in the analysis of data. Projects were designed for three research topics using the statistical inference approach. These are accident experience in stolen vehicles, field dependence, and tire characteristics (vehicle handling).