Description

This data frame contains data on 1995 and later model compact sports utility vehicles involved in fatal accidents in the United States between 1995 and 1999, excluding those that were struck by another car and excluding accidents that, according to police reports, involved alcohol.

Usage

Format

A data frame with 2321 observations on the following 4 variables.

Make

Type of sports utility vehicle, factor with levels "Other" and "Ford"

Vehicle.age

Vehicle age (in years); surrogate for age of tires

Passengers

Number of passengers

Cause

Cause of fatal accident, factor with levels "Not_Tire" and "Tire"

Details

The Ford Explorer is a popular sports utility vehicle made in the United States and sold throughout the world. Early in its production concern arose over a potential accident risk associated with tires of the prescribed size when the vehicle was carrying heavy loads, but the risk was thought to be acceptable if a low tire pressure was recommended. The problem was apparently exacerbated by a particular type of Firestone tire that was overly prone to separation, especially in warm temperatures. This type of tire was a common one used on Explorers in model years 1995 and later. By the end of 1999 more than 30 lawsuits had been filed over accidents that were thought to be associated with this problem. U.S. federal data on fatal car accidents were analysed at that time, showing that the odds of a fatal accident being associated with tire failure were three times as great for Explorers as for other sports utility vehicles.

Additional data from 1999 and additional variables may be used to further explore the odds ratio. It is of interest to see whether the odds that a fatal accident is tire-related depend on whether the vehicle is a Ford, after accounting for age of the car and number of passengers. Since the Ford tire problem may be due to the load carried, there is some interest in seeing whether the odds associated with a Ford depend on the number of passengers.

Source

Ramsey, F.L. and Schafer, D.W. (2002). The Statistical Sleuth: A Course in Methods of Data Analysis (2nd ed), Duxbury.

See Also

ex1919

Examples