Description of Light-Vehicle Pre-Crash Scenarios for Safety Applications Based on Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications

This report describes pre-crash scenarios that might be addressed by vehicle-to-vehicle communications. The focus is on crashes involving at least 1 light vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less. The 2004-2008 General Estimates System crash databases were used to quantify the societal cost and describe the driving environment, driver characteristics, and crash contributing factors. The National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey was queried to statistically portray crash causal factors. Data from Event Data Recorders drawn from model year 2000-2007 vehicles were analyzed to describe the kinematics of pre-crash scenarios in terms of travel speed, brake application, and deceleration level over a period of five seconds before the crash. Most crashes occurred on straight roads, dry surfaces, in clear weather, and during daylight hours.