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One way of avoiding crashes or mitigating the consequences of a crash is to apply an autonomous braking system. Quantifying the benefit of such a system in terms of injury reduction is a challenge. At the same time it is a fundamental input into the vehicle development process. This paper describes a method to estimate the effectiveness of reducing speed prior to impact. A holistic view of quantifying the benefit is presented, based on existing real life crash data and basic dynamic theories. It involves a systematic and new way of examining accident data in order to extract information concerning pre-crash situations. One problem area when implementing collision mitigation systems is being able to achieve sufficient target discrimination. The results from the case study highlight frontal impact situations from real world accident data that have the greatest potential in terms of improving accident outcome.

The Inflatable Curtain (IC) has shown great potential to reduce head injuries in side impacts. This study explores and presents enhanced performance in two steps of improved activation algorithms. Crash data analysis, 21 full scale crash tests and component tests in a custom built drop tower rig have been performed. The IC performance in wider crash scenarios, including side impacts outside the occupant compartment (L-type impacts), was evaluated. Both statistical crash data and in-depth studies were used. It was found in the analysis of real life crashes that moderate to fatal head injuries can occur without intrusion in the occupant compartment. In L-type side impacts, the motion of the occupant relative to the vehicle interior may cause a head impact of sufficiently high severity to cause moderate to severe head injuries. A combined analysis of real world crash data and crash test results indicates that a substantial reduction in moderate to fatal head injuries can be achieved.

Frontal Severe Partial Overlap Collisions (SPOC) also called small overlap crashes pose special challenges with respect to structural design as well as occupant protection. In the early 1990s, the SPOC test method was developed addressing 20-40% overlap against a fixed rigid barrier with initial velocities up to 65 km/h. The knowledge gained has been used in the design of Volvo vehicles since then. Important design principles include front side members orientated along the wheel envelopes together with a strong support structure utilizing a space frame principle with beams loaded mainly in tension and compression. This novel setup was first introduced in the 850-model in 1991 and has been refined and patented (2001) in later Volvo front structures. Among the design principles are multiple front side members on each side, helping energy absorption efficiency and robustness.