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The objective of this study is to compare the risk of injury to pedestrians involved in vehicle-pedestrian impacts as predicted by two different types of risk assessment tools: the pedestrian subsystem impactors recommended by the European Enhanced Vehicle-Safety Committee (EEVC) and post-mortem human surrogates (PMHS). Seven replicate full-scale vehicle-pedestrian impact tests were performed with PMHS and a mid-sized sedan travelling at 40 km/h. The PMHS were instrumented with six-degree-of-freedom sensor cubes and sensor data were transformed and translated to predict impact kinematics at the head center of gravity, proximal tibiae, and knee joints. Single EEVC WG 17/EuroNCAP adult headform, upper legform and lower legform impactor tests of the same vehicle were selected for comparison based on the proximity of their impact locations to that of the PMHS.

A dynamic rollover test system (DRoTS) capable of simulating rollover crashes in a laboratory was designed for research use at the University of Virginia. The goal of the current study is to describe the system's capabilities and specifications as well as to explore the limitations of the system's ability to simulate rollover crashes. The test apparatus was designed to permit simulation of a single roof-to-ground interaction of a rollover crash with the potential to be modified for evaluation of pre-roof contact occupant motion. Special considerations were made to permit testing of both dummies and post-mortem human surrogates in both production vehicles and a parametric test buck. DRoTS permits vertical translation, pitch, and roll of the test vehicle while constraining longitudinal and lateral translations and yaw. The study details the ranges of test parameters capable with the DRoTS and evaluates the limitations of the system relative to rollover crash conditions.

Frontal impacts with reclined occupants are rare but severe, and they are anticipated to become more common with the introduction of vehicles with automated driving capabilities. Computational and physical human surrogates are needed to design and evaluate injury countermeasures for reclined occupants, but the validity of such surrogates in a reclined posture is unknown. Experiments with post-mortem human subjects (PMHS) in a recline posture are needed both to define biofidelity targets for other surrogates and to describe the biomechanical response of reclined occupants in restrained frontal impacts. The goal of this study was to evaluate the kinematic and injury response of reclined PMHS in 30 g, 50 km/h frontal sled tests. Five midsize adult male PMHS were tested. A simplified semi-rigid seat with an anti-submarining pan and a non-production three-point seatbelt (pre-tensioned, force-limited, seat-integrated) were used.

The objective of the current study was to characterize the whole-body kinematic response of restrained PMHS in controlled laboratory rollover tests. A dynamic rollover test system (DRoTS) and a parametric vehicle buck were used to conduct 36 rollover tests on four adult male PMHS with varied test conditions to study occupant kinematics during the rollover event. The DRoTS was used to drop/catch and rotate the test buck, which replicated the occupant compartment of a typical mid-sized SUV, around its center of gravity without roof-to-ground contact. The studied test conditions included a quasi-static inversion (4 tests), an inverted drop and catch that produced a 3 g vertical deceleration (4 tests), a pure dynamic roll at 360 degrees/second (11 tests), and a roll with a superimposed drop and catch produced vertical deceleration (17 tests). Each PMHS was restrained with a three-point belt and was tested in both leading-side and trailing-side front-row seating positions.

Extensive testing has been conducted to evaluate both the dynamic response of vehicle structures and occupant protection systems in rollover collisions though the use of Anthropomorphic Test Devices (ATDs). Rollover test methods that utilize a fixture to initiate the rollover event include the SAE2114 dolly, inverted drop tests, accelerating vehicle body buck on a decelerating sled, ramp-induced rollovers, and Controlled Rollover Impact System (CRIS) Tests. More recently, programmable steering controllers have been used with sedans, vans, pickup trucks, and SUVs to induce a rollover, primarily for studying the vehicle kinematics for accident reconstruction applications. The goal of this study was to create a prototypical rollover crash test for the study of vehicle dynamics and occupant injury risk where the rollover is initiated by a steering input over realistic terrain without the constraints of previously used test methods.

The goal of this study is to present the methods employed and results obtained during the first six tests performed with a new dynamic rollover test system. The tests were performed to develop and refine test methodology and instrumentation methods, examine the potential for variation in test parameters, evaluate how accurately actual touchdown test parameters could be specified, and identify problems or limitations of the test fixture. Five vehicles ranging in size and inertia from a 2011 Toyota Yaris (1174 kg, 379 kg m₂) to a 2002 Ford Explorer (2408 kg, 800 kg m₂) were tested. Vehicle kinematic parameters at the instant of vehicle-to-road contact varied across the tests: roll rates of 211-268 deg/s, roll angles of 133-199 deg, pitch angles of -12 deg to 0 deg, vertical impact velocities of 1.7 to 2.7 m/s, and road velocities of 3.0-8.8 m/s.