Characteristics of Hazardous‐Material Accidents in Pennsylvania

Abstract

Pennsylvania has accounted for the highest number of hazardous material incidents in the United States between 1971 and 1983, with 90% of the incidents being highway related. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has sponsored a research project that focuses on the risk assessment associated with the movement of hazardous materials and determination of corresponding vulnerable areas in the state. The risk assessment of hazardous‐material movements is data intensive, and its analysis depends on several data sources and on the quality of the input data. Three data bases are analyzed for this project: (1) The Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) hazardous material incident reports (HMIR); (2) the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety (BMCS) truck accident data base; and (3) the Pennsylvania State traffic accident data base for hazardous material. In addition to the individual analysis, a comparison among these data bases was also made. The comparison was conducted to find out whether the characteristics of accidents and incidents are consistent in different data bases.