EH-21 Unattended Vehicle Accidents

                         ENVIRONMENT, SAFETY & HEALTH



                                   BULLETIN



Assistant Secretary for                              U.S. Department of Energy

Environment, Safety, & Health                        Washington, D.C. 20585



DOE/EH-0044                      Issue No. 21                       April 1989



Unattended Vehicle Accidents



From our earliest days of learning to drive, one of the most important ideas

pounded into our heads was to properly park the vehicles that we drive.  We

were taught to pick an adequate and safe place to park, to curb the wheels on

inclines, to make sure that the vehicle was in gear or park, and to engage the

parking brake.  And to ensure that the vehicles were safe, we were taught to

never leave the engine idling while the vehicle was unattended, or with

children in the car.  Still, every year we read about several driverless

vehicles rolling down an incline, causing havoc and damage to whatever happens

to be in their path.



A review of reports submitted to DOE's Safety Performance Measurement System

indicates that DOE and DOE contractors are certainly not immune to this sort

of mishap.  Since 1982, more than 100 accidents involving $80,000 in damages

and several injuries have resulted from unattended vehicles that decided to

take a solo drive.



As the narratives of these reports are read, it becomes obvious that in most

cases the accident could have been prevented.  In almost every case, the

vehicle was on an incline, with no parking brake engaged.  In many cases, the

vehicle was left with the engine running and the transmission in "Park", but

the vehicle transmission somehow engaged, and the vehicle rolled away.  This

type of accident is not confined to automobiles.  In the listings were found

trucks, tractor trailers, forklifts, and even cranes that have taken unplanned

trips without their drivers.



The following is a checklist which will help prevent unattended vehicle

accidents:



  1. Is this a safe place to park?  What is the traffic flow of the area?

     What is ahead, behind, and to the sides?



  2. If on an incline, are the wheels curbed in such a way as to prevent a

     runaway?



  3. Is the manual transmission in low gear or in reverse (or in park for

     automatics)?  Check to be sure.  Many of the drivers involved in

     unattended vehicle accidents thought their transmission was secured.



  4. Is the parking brake sufficiently engaged, and does it work?  In most of

     the cases, this one simple step would have prevented the accident.

     However, there is a chance that the brake itself does not work.  Check it,

     and if it does not, report it to your vehicle maintenance organization.



  5. Is the engine turned off and the key removed?  While we cannot always do

     this, it is important to do it when we can (which is most of the time).

     A running engine can cause vibration which can cause the transmission to

     engage, and an engine can sometimes overcome the parking brakes' stopping

     power.  In addition, the interlocks on today's car prevent the

     transmission from engaging when the key is removed.  Finally, an

     unattended vehicle with the engine running or the key in the ignition is

     an open invitation to theft.



  6. Are the wheels chocked (if applicable)?







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Information for this Bulletin was provided by Darrell J. Riffe, Senior

Engineering Specialist, System Safety Development Center, Idaho Falls, Idaho.

The SSDC is operated for DOE by EG&G Idaho, Inc.

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Bulletin is published so that DOE program managers and contractors can share

information about potential occupational safety problems relevant to DOE

operations.  For more information or additional copies, contact Janet Macon,

Office of Safety Compliance, Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety &

Health, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20545; telephone FTS

233-6096, Commercial (301) 353-6096.

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