Search Results

Rollover crashes continue to be a serious and growing vehicle safety problem. Rollovers account for about 9% of passenger car crashes, and 26% of light truck crashes. Belt use in rollover crashes is about 51%, compared with 62% in planar crashes. Overall, 26.4% of the serious and fatal injuries to occupants exposed to crashes are in rollovers. Among this injured population 74.4% are unbelted. In light trucks, rollovers account for 47.4% of the serious or fatal injuries. Unbelted occupants suffer about 87% of the serious injuries and fatalities in light truck rollovers. The use of safety belts offers a dramatic reduction in injury rates for rollover crashes. For belted occupants of pickup trucks and utility vehicles in rollover crashes, the injury rates are about the same as for belted occupants of passenger cars in planar crashes. Improvementsts in safety belts offer large opportunities in safety.

This paper is based on the crash and casualty experience compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) National Accident Sampling System, Crashworthiness Data (NASS/CDS 1988-1992), and by the William Lehman Injury Research Center (University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital/Ryder Trauma Center) crash data files. The NASS/CDS files provide data on injuries to occupants in all types of tow-away crashes. The William Lehman Injury Research Center files provide detailed crash analysis and injury documentation of more than 100 restrained occupants with injuries from frontal crashes. These files provide a basis for recognizing injury patterns among restrained occupants and postulating their causes. The purpose of this paper is to report on an observed pattern of liver and spleen injuries suffered by drivers wearing shoulder belts without the lap belt fastened.

The William Lehman Injury Research Center has conducted multi-disciplinary investigations of fifty crashes involving drivers protected by air bags. In all cases, serious injuries were suspected. Nine cases involved fatal injuries. These cases are not representative of crashes in general. However, when used in conjunction with NASS/CDS they provide insight into the most severe injuries in crashes of vehicles equipped with air bags. A comparison with data from the National Accident Sampling System; Crashworthiness Data System (NASS/CDS) shows that head injury and abdominal injury make up a larger fraction in the Lehman data than in NASS/CDS. Examination of fatal cases indicates that head injuries are frequently caused by intruding structure or by unfavorable occupant kinematics among the unrestrained population.

The William Lehman Injury Research Center has conducted multi-disciplinary investigations of one hundred seventy-eight crashes involving adult occupants protected by safety belts and air bags. In all cases, serious injuries were suspected. Nine cases involved serious heart injuries. These cases are not representative of crashes in general. However, when used in conjunction with National Accident Sampling System; Crashworthiness Data System (NASS/CDS) they provide insight into the most severe injuries suffered by restrained occupants in frontal crashes. Heart injuries are rare, but when they occur they are usually life threatening. NASS/CDS shows that heart injuries comprise about 0.2% of the injuries in frontal tow-away crashes. In the NHTSA file of Special Crash Investigations (SCI) of air bag cases, heart injuries are reported in 1% of the occupants over 15 years of age. Twenty-five percent of the fatally injured occupants had heart injuries, and 83% of those with heart injury died.

This paper addresses the crash protection of occupants of the car fleet in transition from the late 1970's to the early 1980's. Three files of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are used: the NASS 1979 to 1983, the PARS 1979 to 1983, and the NCSS 1977 to 1979. Fatalities, injured survivors by severity, and all accident involved car occupants are addressed. Risks of crash and injury outcomes are determined and analyzed as a function of risk influencing factors, especially factors that may vary significantly during the time period under consideration. Ejection risks and ejection patterns are addressed explicitly. Harm, an earlier introduced human casualty integrator, and harm distributions are extensively examined and updated with respect to earlier results. Harm and harm pattern changes, whether statistical fluctuations or systematic variations, are analyzed.

This paper addresses the risks of occupant casualties in highway accidents. Such risks are determined from U.S. accident experience in the past 10 years. Risks are analyzed as a function of vehicle type, car market class, make, nameplate, and model year for crashes of various impact types and various severities. Both absolute risks, per unit exposure, and relative risks are addressed. The influence of many exposure variables is examined and necessary adjustments, to a common set of exposure conditions, are made. The control variables for this purpose are: calendar year and car age; occupant's seating position, restraint status, and age; time and place of travel; and various roadway characteristics. Adjusted risks are reviewed versus major characteristics of cars as implied by make, nameplate, and model year. Occupant ejections and rollovers receive special attention due to their risk sensitivity to car class