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Accident documentations on GIDAS (German In-Depth-Accident Study) from 1999 to 2005 are used for this study dealing with the effectiveness of the side airbag protection for car occupants. An analysis of real world accidents was carried out by ARU-MUH (Accident Research Unit - Medical University Hannover). The data were collected based on the spot documentation in time after an accident event. Based on the accident sampling process, the results of this study are representative for the German traffic accident situation. In order to determine the influence and the effectiveness of airbags, only those accident configurations with comparable conditions on impact direction are used for the study, therefore only cases with impact to the compartment, a delta-v-range 5 to 50 km/h and for struckside seated belted occupants were selected.

There exist two different methods to investigate the injury mechanisms and the tolerance levels, either sled tests or real road traffic accidents. Sled tests conducted at the University of Heidelberg and real accident cases examined by the University of Hannover were compared. The impact conditions of the Heidelberg sled tests were frontal collisions, with an impact velocity (Δv) of 50 km/h and decelerations of 10 g's to 20 g's. Twenty-nine tests with 3-point-belt protected cadavers in the age range 19 to 65 years were included in the Heidelberg collective. The Hannover sample contained 24 frontal accident cases (30 occupants) with a 100% overlap of the car front with the same Δv and average car deceleration range similar as the sled tests, the passenger compartment was only minimal intruded. Three-point belt protected drivers and front passengers in the age range of 18 to 71 years were included in the sample.

Due to protection applicances in the car, fewer persons sustain injuries in the course of traffic accidents. It can be pointed out that the injury pattern of car occupants was visibly changed by the seat belt, in earlier years the windscreen and steering wheel could hardly still be regarded as injury sources, but in the current situation with belt using of over 90% the injuries of all injured car drivers occur under other circumstances: 19% of all injured car drivers suffered injuries by the steering wheel, 20% by the dashboard, 29% by belt load and 14% caused by parts of the footroom region. It can be summarized that the present car safety measures did not avoid all major injuries and lower limb injuries occur relatively often. This study will explain the injury mechanisms of lower limb injuries and show demands for car developments and dummy test work.

The national accident statistics demonstrate that the situation of passenger car side impacts is dominated by car-to-car accidents. Car side-to-pole impacts are relatively infrequent events but result in disproportionate rates of serious and fatal injuries when compared to those in car-to-car side impact. Hence their importance has been highlighted in recent studies. For the present study two approaches were undertaken to better understand the scenario of car-to-pole impacts in Germany. The German in-depth database GIDAS (German In-Depth-Accident Study) and the UK-based database CCIS (Co-operative Crash Injury Study) were used. The first part or the study is a statistical analysis of passenger car side-to-pole impacts to describe the characteristics and their importance relevant to other types of impact and to gain further knowledge about the main factors influencing the accident outcome.