Head-on collision explained

A head-on collision is a traffic collision where the front ends of two vehicles such as cars, trains, ships or planes hit each other when travelling in opposite directions, as opposed to a side collision or rear-end collision.

Rail transport

With railways, a head-on collision occurs most often on a single line railway. This usually means that at least one of the trains has passed a signal at danger, or that a signalman has made a major error. Head-on collisions may also occur at junctions, for similar reasons. In the early days of railroading in the United States, such collisions were quite common and gave to the rise of the term "Cornfield Meet".[1] As time progressed and signalling became more standardized, such collisions became less frequent. Even so, the term still sees some usage in the industry. The origins of the term are not well known, but it is attributed to crashes happening in rural America where farming and cornfields were common. The first known usage of the term was in the mid-19th century.

The distance required for a train to stop is usually greater than the distance that can be seen before the next blind curve, which is why signals and safeworking systems are so important.

List of collisions

Note: if the collision occurs at a station or junction, or trains are travelling in the same direction, then the collision is not a pure head-on collision

!Date!Name!Location!Cause!Deaths!Injuries!Ref
17 July 1856Great Train Wreck of 1856Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, United StatesHuman errorApprox 60Over 100
10 September 1874Thorpe rail accidentThorpe St Andrew, Norfolk, EnglandSingle-line telegraphic working error2575
7 August 1876Radstock rail accidentSomerset and Dorset Joint Railway, EnglandSingle-line telegraphic working error15
15 September 1896Crash at Crush"Crush", McLennan County, Texas, United StatesIntentional publicity stunt to dispose of obsolete engines26+
24 September 1904New Market train wreckNew Market, Tennessee, United StatesEngineer error56 - 113106
9 July 1918Great Train Wreck of 1918Nashville, Tennessee, United StatesHuman error101171
26 January 1921Abermule train collisionAbermule, Montgomeryshire, WalesSingle-line token error1736
5 December 1921Bryn Athyn Train WreckBryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, United StatesHuman error2770
20 October 1957Yarımburgaz train disasterYarımburgaz, Küçükçekmece, İstanbulAllowing two trains into same occupied block section by signalmen95150
16 November 1960Stéblová train disasterStéblová, CzechoslovakiaCollision118110
7 February 1969Violet Town rail accidentViolet Town, Victoria, AustraliaDriver heart attack9117
27 May 1971Dahlerau train disasterDahlerau, Radevormwald, West GermanyNot determined4625
4 May 19761976 Schiedam train accidentNear Schiedam, NetherlandsError by the chief conductorand the driver of Stoptrein 4116,lack of ATB24
28 August 1979Nijmegen train collisionBetween Wijchen and Nijmegen, Netherlands836
25 July 1980Winsum train collisionWinsum, GroningenHead-on-collision921
11 September 1985Moimenta-Alcafache train crashMangualde, PortugalCollision49
8 February 1986Hinton train collisionDalehurst, Alberta, CanadaLocomotive engineer fatigueConductor error2371
17 February 1986Queronque rail accidentLimache, Marga Marga Province, ChileHuman error58+510
19 October 19871987 Bintaro train crashBintaro, Tangerang, IndonesiaHuman error156± 300
6 March 1989Glasgow Bellgrove rail crashBellgrove, Glasgow, ScotlandSignal Passed At Danger2
21 July 1991Newton (South Lanarkshire) rail accidentNewton, South Lanarkshire, ScotlandSignal Passed At Danger, inadequate junction layout422
15 October 1994Cowden rail crashCowden railway station, Kent, EnglandSignal Passed At Danger513
14 January 1996Hines Hill train collisionHines Hill, Western AustraliaSignal Passed At Danger2
12 August 1998Suonenjoki rail collisionSuonenjoki, FinlandMisinterpretation of signals, possible signal malfunction026
2 August 1999Gaisal train disasterGaisal, Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal, IndiaHuman error285>300
5 October 1999Ladbroke Grove rail crashLadbroke Grove, London, EnglandSignal Passed At Danger31417
4 January 2000Åsta accidentÅsta, Åmot, Norway19
7 January 2005Crevalcore train crashCrevalcore, Italy
22 September 2006Lathen train collisionLathen, GermanyHuman error2311[2]
11 October 2006Zoufftgen train collisionZoufftgen, Lorraine, FranceHuman error620
12 September 20082008 Chatsworth train collisionLos Angeles, California, United StatesSignal Passed At Danger25135
15 February 2010Halle train collisionBuizingen, Halle, BelgiumRunning of a red signal19171
29 January 2011Hordorf train collisionHordorf, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany1023
19 February 2012Air Limau train collisionAir Limau, Muara Enim, IndonesiaHuman errorSignal Passed At Danger42
21 April 2012Sloterdijk train collisionWesterpark, Amsterdam, NetherlandsSuspected Signal Passed At Danger1116
9 February 2016Bad Aibling rail accidentBad Aibling, Bavaria, GermanySignalman's error1285
12 July 2016Andria-Corato train collisionAndria, Apulia, ItalyUnder investigation; possible human error2354
15 November 2017Joo Koon rail accidentJoo Koon MRT station, SingaporeSoftware-related issue038
24 May 20212021 Kelana Jaya LRT collisionBetween Kampung Baru LRT station and KLCC LRT station, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaHuman error0213
28 February 2023Tempi train crashTempi, Larissa, Thessaly, GreeceUnknown5780[3] [4]
5 January 20242024 Cicalengka railway collisionCicalengka Station, Bandung Regency, Indonesia437

Sea transport

With shipping, there are two main factors influencing the chance of a head-on collision. Firstly, even with radar and radio, it is difficult to tell what course the opposing ships are following. Secondly, big ships have so much momentum that it is very hard to change course at the last moment.

Road transport

Head-on collisions are an often fatal type of road traffic collision. The NHTSA defines a head-on collision thusly:

In Canada, in 2017, 6,293 vehicles and 8,891 persons were involved in head-on collision, injuring 5,222 persons and killing 377 other.[5]

U.S. statistics show that in 2005, head-on crashes were only two per cent of all crashes, yet accounted for ten per cent of U.S. fatal crashes. A common misconception is that this over-representation is because the relative velocity of vehicles travelling in opposite directions is high. While it is true (via Galilean relativity) that a head-on crash between two vehicles traveling at 50 mph is equivalent to a moving vehicle running into a stationary one at 100 mph, it is clear from basic Newtonian Physics that if the stationary vehicle is replaced with a solid wall or other stationary near-immovable object such as a bridge abutment, then the equivalent collision is one in which the moving vehicle is only traveling at 50 mph.,[6] except for the case of a lighter car colliding with a heavier one. The television show MythBusters performed a demonstration of this effect in a 2010 show.[7]

In France, in the years 2017 and 2018, 2563 and 2556 head-on collisions (collision frontales) outside built-up area outside motorways killed 536 and 545 people respectively.[8] They represent about 16% of all the fatalities including the ones on motorways and within built-up area.

In Quebec, head-on collisions are involved in eight per cent of work-related issues, but this figure rises to 23 per cent when the vehicles involved are in a rural zone where the maximum speed is greater than .[9]

Head-on collisions, sideswipes, and run-off-road crashes all belong to a category of crashes called lane-departure or road-departure crashes. This is because they have similar causes, if different consequences. The driver of a vehicle fails to stay centered in their lane, and either leaves the roadway, or crosses the centerline, possibly resulting in a head-on or sideswipe collision, or, if the vehicle avoids oncoming traffic, a run-off-road crash on the far side of the road.

Preventive measures include traffic signs and road surface markings to help guide drivers through curves, as well as separating opposing lanes of traffic with wide central reservation (or median) and median barriers to prevent crossover incidents. Median barriers are physical barriers between the lanes of traffic, such as concrete barriers or cable barriers. These are actually roadside hazards in their own right, but on high speed roads, the severity of a collision with a median barrier is usually lower than the severity of a head-on crash.

The European Road Assessment Programme's Road Protection Score (RPS) is based on a schedule of detailed road design elements that correspond to each of the four main crash types, including head-on collisions. The Head-on Crash element of the RPS measures how well traffic lanes are separated. Motorways generally have crash protection features in harmony with the high speeds allowed. The Star Rating results show that motorways generally score well with a typical 4-star rating even though their permitted speeds are the highest on the network. But results from Star Rating research in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden have shown that there is a pressing need to find better median (central reservation), run-off and junction protection at reasonable cost on single carriageway roads.

Another form of head-on crash is the wrong-way entry crash, where a driver on a surface road turns onto an off-ramp from a motorway or freeway, instead of the on-ramp. They can also happen on divided arterials if a driver turns into the wrong side of the road. Considerable importance is placed on designing ramp terminals and intersections to prevent these incidents. This often takes to form of special signage at freeway off-ramps to discourage drivers from going the wrong way. Section 2B.41 of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices describes how such signs should be placed on American highways.

Neither vehicle in a head-on collision need be a "car"; the Puisseguin road crash was between a truck and a coach.

Sideswipe collisions

See main article: Side collision.

Sideswipe collisions are where the sides of two vehicles travelling in the same or opposite directions touch. They differ from head-on collisions only in that one vehicle impacts the side of the other vehicle rather than the front. Severity is usually lower than a head-on collision, since it tends to be a glancing blow rather than a direct impact. However, loss of control of either vehicle can have unpredictable effects and secondary crashes can dramatically increase the expected crash severity.

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Train wrecks; a pictorial history of accidents on the main line . LC Catalog .
  2. Web site: 22 September 2006 . Mag-lev crash kills 23 . 7 November 2022 . The Guardian . en . 7 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221107132619/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/sep/22/news.germany . live .
  3. News: 1 March 2023 . Fiery train crash in Greece kills 29, injures at least 85 . en-US . . live . 1 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230301025549/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/greece-train-crash/ . 1 March 2023.
  4. News: Grant . Teddy . Gretsky . Will . Winsor . Morgan . Deliso . Meredith . 2 March 2023 . At least 57 dead, dozens more injured in Greek train derailment . en . . live . 2 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230301040059/https://abcnews.go.com/International/16-dead-85-injured-trains-collide-derail-greece/story?id=97538779 . 1 March 2023.
  5. Web site: National Collisions Database Online, Error - National Collision Database Online 1.0 - Transport Canada . 11 August 2021 . 20 December 2019 . 3 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230303085839/https://wwwapps2.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/7/NCDB-BNDC/p.aspx?i=1157&l=en&i=1157&l=en#o18 . live .
  6. Web site: PhysicsLab: Head-on Collisions 2 . 9 May 2012 . 15 August 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110815182554/http://dev.physicslab.org/Document.aspx?doctype=5&filename=Compilations_NextTime_HeadOnCollision2.xml . live .
  7. Web site: MythBusters: Mythssion Control – Head-on Collision Experiment . 6 May 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100504214739/http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-mythssion-control/ . 4 May 2010 . dead .
  8. [ONISR]
  9. https://medias.irsst.qc.ca/videos/1403_ps_cr_HD_0099-4460_fr_pdf.pdf Archived copy