Search Results

The relation between impact severity and risk of injury is a fundamental issue in terms of comparing vehicles and occupant protection systems. Normally, such risk functions would have to be based on reconstruction of crashes, limiting the possibility to generate risk functions down to individual car models. In this study, an alternative way to derive risk functions was developed and used. In the present method, risk functions were derived using matched pairs of crashes, varying mass relations in a controlled way, and generating risk versus relative change of velocity. The data used were police reported crashes in Sweden during 1994-2000. The results show, that there are major differences in injury risk functions between individual car models. The results are of major importance for the development of car model safety rating and for the evaluation of new car safety technology. The method is also of importance in understanding possible scenarios of sub optimization.

The need for a consumer information on car safety is growing steadily. Up to now, the consumer information about crash-tested new cars has been provided, but this should be supplemented by safety ratings based on real-world accidents which reflect all types of accident circumstances. The possibilities and limits of the necessary ""Quality Criteria for the Safety Assessment of Cars based on Real- World Crashes'' are analyzed in an EU project in cooperation of research institutes, industry and universities. The paper summarizes the results of three major objectives within this ""SARAC'' project. - The existing rating procedures worldwide have been analyzed and are described by their methods and the assessment criteria/crash parameters used.

A preliminary case-control study of passenger airbag deployments in frontal crashes (in which a passenger was present) was undertaken. The study was conducted as part of an on-going study of vehicle crash performance and occupant injury at Monash University Accident Research Center (MUARC). The results of this preliminary study suggest that the US experience of fatalities caused by interaction of the passenger with the deploying airbag is not shared in Australia. This is probably because the seat-belt use in this study was 100%. These preliminary results reinforce the view that such airbags should be used as supplementary restraint systems. Further studies are planned to monitor the performance of passenger-airbags and to provide more in-depth analyses when more data become available.

The paper examines the application of six vehicle safety rating systems to a common crash database, for the purpose of making a comparison of the rating results produced by each system and to develop an understanding of the differences which emerge. The rating results are compared based on rank order of crashworthiness of vehicle models, and relationships between each pair of results. Finally, the results with their respective confidence limits are used to classify each vehicle model as having inferior, not defined or superior crashworthiness, and the classification is used to compare the relative discrimination of the methods.

This study presents some results from a case-control study of crashed vehicles equipped with Australian airbag technology (Supplementary Restraint Systems). Vehicles were inspected and occupants interviewed according to the National Accident Sampling System (NASS). Data were available for 383 belted drivers involved in frontal crashes including 253 drivers in airbag-equipped vehicles and 130 drivers in non-airbag vehicles. The analysis revealed reductions in the numbers of injuries to the head, face, chest and neck in the airbag-equipped vehicles although the numbers of upper extremity injuries increased. At higher injury severities (AIS2+) reductions were also observed in injuries to the head, face, neck and chest. Further analysis using Harm as an outcome measure found that the mean Harm per driver (in terms of $AUD) were 60% greater in the non-airbag vehicles compared with the airbag-equipped vehicles.

This paper describes an empirical comparison of seven vehicle aggressivity rating methods in order to identify the most satisfactory vehicle aggressivity "rating' system. Vehicles were distinguished by make and model, and the aggressivity of each model was estimated from data on real two-vehicle crashes. For comparison purposes, two common crash databases were used for estimation of ratings by each method: Police-reported tow-away crash data from three US states, and accident compensation claims from Finland. New methods of vehicle aggressivity rating were also proposed and tested.

The objective of the ISIP Project has been to develop a methodology to allow vehicle designers to optimize safety systems of vehicles in side impacts. This optimization was based on the minimization of the cost of injury or Harm. To form the link between the safety system protective capability in a crash and the cost of injury to the occupant required the development of a series of lateral impact Injury Assessment Functions (IAFs). These IAFs had to be able to predict the risk of injury, in AIS, for each of the major body regions of the occupant. The injury predictions were used to derive Harm for the crash and were based on the responses of a human surrogate, the BioSID. This paper describes the development of these lateral injury IAFs from the analysis of cadaver test data.

This paper includes an overview of a collaborative research project of Improved Side Impact Protection (ISIP) that commenced in 1997. The research program was sponsored by the Australian Research Council and involved a partnership of industry, government and research agencies, both in Australia and overseas. The overall aim was to develop a new approach to optimizing vehicle design using Harm as the main outcome criteria. The program involved a number of research activities including mass data analysis, in-depth real-world crash investigations, simulation modelling and the development of a family of Injury Assessment Functions. The paper outlines the structure and progress of these activities, summarizes the results and provides an overview of the optimizer model emanating from this research.