An assesssment was made of the magnitude of the passing accident problem in two states from 1985 to 1989 on 2-lane rural roads and 2-lane rural and urban roads, the study results were compared with those from a previous study (of one State). The study was conducted using the Federal Highway Administration's Highway Safety Information System data base. The study methodology is described, and the results are tabulated. It was found that the total number of passing accidents with respect to all accidents is in the range of 2 % to 3 % for the 3 States studied. This indicates that passing accidents do not appear to be a significant problem. The severity of passing accidents is slightly higher than the severity of nonpassing accidents for the States studied. Although there are some differences in injury severity among the States, the total percentages of injury accidents are similar. These and other findings are discussed.

Yusuf M. Mohamedshah. Investigation of Passing Accidents Using the HSIS Data Base, Public Roads, Office of Research and Development, Federal Highway Administration, U.S.Department of Transportation, Washington D.C., Autumn 1992.