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Pedestrian crashes are the most frequent cause of traffic-related fatalities worldwide. The high number of pedestrian accidents justifies more active research work on passive and active safety technology intended to mitigate pedestrian injuries. Post-impact pedestrian kinematics is complex and depends on various factors such as impact speed, height of the pedestrian, front-end profile of the striking vehicle and pedestrian posture, among others. The aim of this study is to investigate the main factors that determine post-crash pedestrian kinematics. The injury mechanism is also discussed. A detailed study of NASS-PCDS (National Automotive Sampling System - Pedestrian Crash Data Study, US, 1994-1998), showed that the vehicle-pedestrian interaction in frontal crashes can be categorized into four types: “Thrown forward”, “Wrapped position”, “Slid to windshield” and “Passed over vehicle”.

This study proposes an impact-triggered automatic braking system as a potential safety improvement based on the characteristics of the Multiple Impact Crashes (MICs). The system activates with a signal of airbag deployment in a collision to reduce the vehicle speed in the subsequent collisions. The effectiveness was estimated by an in-depth review of the National Automotive Sampling System-Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS). The cases were extracted on the basis of the 3-point lap and shoulder belted occupants, incurring Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale level 3 to 6 injuries (MAIS 3+), in the crashes occurred from 2004 to 2006, without vehicle rollover or occupant ejection, where the involved vehicles were 2000 and newer model year cars and light trucks.