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NASS/CDS data (1993-2013) was used to examine serious injury rates and injury sources for belted drivers in near- and far-side impacts. Frequency and severity of near- and far-side impacts by crash severity (delta-V) were compared for older (1994-2007 MY) and newer (2008-2013 MY) vehicles. For 2008-2013 MY, individual cases were examined for serious thorax injury in far-side impacts. Results show that, for newer passenger cars, about 92% of side impacts have a delta-V under 15 mph and, for older cars, the percentage is about 86%. The rate of serious injury is higher for nearside compared to far-side crashes for both older and newer models, and the near-side injury rate is much lower for newer models. Safety features, including side airbags, are effective in reducing injuries to near-side belted drivers in newer models. The serious injury rate for near-side belted drivers in older cars is 5.5% for near-side crashes and 1.2% for far-side crashes.

Pedal misapplication events were examined using police-reported crash data to determine crash characteristics and other contributing factors. The study used police-reported crash data narratives from North Carolina (1994-2009) and included detailed manual review of each selected police report to identify possible pedal misapplication events. A comprehensive keyword search of all the records in the North Carolina data was performed to identify crashes most likely to be associated with pedal misapplications. The identified records were reviewed by engineers and classified as either “Yes,” “Possible,” or “No” pedal misapplication. For the “Yes” and “Possible” records, examination was made of the sequence of events leading up to the possible pedal misapplication. Findings show that the most frequently reported pedal misapplication events include: parking, slowing, stopped, starting, and backing, which are all low-speed events.