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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