Report on head-on collision involving a heavy goods vehicle on road RV 3 near Rasta in Stor-Elvdal on 3 December 2020
Road traffic report 2021/05
At 16:57 on 3 December 2020, just south of Rasta on road RV 3, a southbound passenger car carrying four people lost its grip on the road on a slight right-hand bend. It was dark, oncoming traffic and the car probably lost its grip as a result of steering outside the established tracks on the snow-covered road. The passenger car skidded and rotated into the oncoming lane, and hit the (HGV) in the front with its left rear corner. The HGV tried to turn away to the left, but the collision was unavoidable. The left rear seat passenger in the car died instantly, and the driver of the car sustained fatal injuries in the collision and died in hospital the next day. The other two passengers, who were sitting in the right front and rear seats, sustained less serious injuries. The driver of the HGV sustained minor injuries in the accident. The investigation has emphasized clarifying road conditions and vehicle technical factors, but also the challenges that the weather conditions created for both road users and those who operated the road. Several factors contributed to this situation, and help to explain why the accident happened. The safety equipment and survival aspects of the car have also been examined, and it has been shown that no airbags were activated in the collision. The investigation has shown that the extent of the damage in the accident could have been reduced if the available window airbags had been activated.
The passenger car had winter tyres with a good tread depth on the front wheels, but skewed wear on the inside and tread depth down to the minimum requirement on the rear tyres. Based on the investigation it is likely that the compromised road conditions, rutted and slushy road, combined with the condition of the rear tyres, caused the passenger car to lose its grip on the road in this accident, at the same time as it was demanding conditions for all road users.
The road had been ploughed and salted using the anti-compaction method approximately 20–25 minutes before the accident. The operational measure that was taken before the accident is in line with the described standards for the relevant weather event. The roadway at the accident site was rutted, which may have reduced the effect of the ploughing, causing slush to remain on the roadway, with the result that tracks were made by other vehicles and slush banks formed on the road.
The road was operated with respect to the weather event, but there was no flight weather for the air-ambulance. The snowy weather made the driving conditions so demanding that the emergency services had to drive at a reduced emergency speed. Some of this was due to the risk of losing control when changing lanes and crossing tracks, but it was also not to create new hazardous situations for other road users.
The investigation has shown that the accident must be explained by the fact that many coinciding factors contributed when the car lost traction and skidded into the oncoming lane.
No airbags were activated in the collision, nor was the car programmed to activate these in the event of a rear-end collision. The investigation has shown that the extent of the damage in the accident could have been reduced if the window airbags had been activated.
The NSIA believes that this investigation shows that the safety of people in cars can be increased by activating window airbags in several collision situations.
The NSIA does not issue any safety recommendations in this investigation, but several learning points that can contribute to increase safety have been identified.
Published 15.12.2021
Facts
| Location | Rv. 3, Rasta, Stor-Elvdal |
| Occurrence date | 03.12.2020 |
| Accident type | Head-on collision |
| Road class | National road |
| County | Innlandet |
| Police Disctrict | Innlandet |
| Vehicle type | Passenger car, Truck and trailer |
| Type of Transportation | Freight transport, Private transport |
| Road region | Innlandet |
| Accident category | Ulykke m/ kjøretøy over 7500 kg |