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The total number of persons severely and fatally injured in road traffic accidents has reduced considerably in recent decades. However, the number of motorcyclists involved in accidents has not reduced to the same extent, and some countries have even recorded an increase. The aim of this study is to analyse the circumstances of motorcycle accidents in Germany involving vehicles with a cubic capacity of over 125 cm3 with particular reference to severely or fatally injured riders. An analysis is to be made of the characteristics and patterns of injuries suffered by the most severely injured motorcyclists and proposals developed for injury prevention. The study included accident data from 464 motorcycle accidents collected in Hanover and Dresden between 2010 and 2015 by an academic research team in the course of the GIDAS project (German In-Depth Accident Study). This data represents a statistically representative sample from real accidents occurring in Germany.

This study deals with the question whether or not a “braking with maximum deceleration” represents a specific physical load situation for the occupants of a car. For this purpose, a literature study was performed to determine the relevance of symptoms concerning whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) of car occupants who were involved in traffic accidents with low accident severity. Additionally, test drives with full braking cars were conducted to determine the load situation of the neck for human test persons. Dummies were used too, which were equipped with measuring components at the head and thorax to identify the effective acceleration/deceleration and to compare these values to scientific approved characteristic deceleration values and to the existing neck injury criteria. Finally, the likelihood of occurrence of symptoms in terms of a neck injury was evaluated from the medical and biomechanical point of view.

Estimating the potential benefit of advanced safety systems by simulation has become increasingly important during the last years. All over the world OEMs and suppliers carry out benefit estimations by simulations via computer models. Such simulations should, of course, be based on real world scenario such as the pre-crash phase of real world accidents. Several methodologies for building up accident scenarios have been developed in the past. This paper shows a new method for generating pre-crash scenarios directly from the reconstruction of the accident by using the software PC-Crash1. The new method was developed by the Medical University Hannover (MHH) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation Dresden (Fraunhofer IVI). It is based on transferring all information (participant-, vehicle-, environment- and motion-data) from the reconstruction file into a scenario-database.

During most pedestrian-vehicle crashes the car front impacts the pedestrian and the whole body wraps around the front shape of the car. This influences the head impact on the vehicle. Meanwhile the windscreen is a major impact point and tested in NCAP conditions. The severity of injuries is influenced by car impact speed; type of vehicle; stiffness and shape of the vehicle; nature of the front (such as the bumper height, bonnet height and length, windscreen frame); age and body height of the pedestrian; and standing position of the pedestrian relative to the vehicle front. The so called Wrap Around Distance WAD is one of the important measurements for the assessment of protection of pedestrians and of bicyclists as well because the kinematic of bicyclists is similar to that of pedestrians. For this study accidents of GIDAS were used to identify the importance of WAD for the resulting head injury severity of pedestrians and bicyclists.

The overall number of severely injured participants and fatalities in road traffic accidents has decreased enormously during the last decades especially in Europe, but casualties in the group of riders of motorcycles have only decreased in a smaller percentage. In countries of Asia the numbers of motorcycle casualties are increasing regarding the popularity of motorcycle riding. The aim of this study is to analyze the current accident situation of motorcycles in Germany with severely injured and killed riders of motorcycles with cubic capacity > 125 cm3 in Germany, to identify the characteristics in injury mechanisms and accident constellations to find countermeasures to be suggested for worldwide accident avoidance and injury reduction. The study was carried out on the basis of accident data of 1,493 drivers of motorcycles involved in traffic accidents in Germany.

This study deals with the risk of injury to the bicyclist's head and the benefits of wearing a bicycle helmet in terms of reduction of injury severity or even injury avoidance. The accident data of 4,245 injured bicyclists as a randomized sample, collected by a scientific research team within the GIDAS project (German In-Depth Accident Study) were analyzed. Given that head injuries result in approximately 40% of bicycle-related crashes, helmet usage provides a sensible first-level approach for improving incidence and severity of head injuries. The effectiveness of the bicycle helmet was examined using descriptive and multivariate analysis for 433 bicyclists with a helmet and 3,812 bicyclists without a helmet. Skull fractures, severe brain injuries and skull base fractures were up to 80% less frequent for bicyclists wearing a helmet.

This paper describes the correlation of a person's age to the risk of injury occurrence and the corresponding injury severity in traffic accidents. A representative sample of belted drivers was analyzed by using data from the German In-Depth-Accident Study (GIDAS) to investigate the influence of age on injury severity and special injuries to different body regions. The study focused on two age groups: 17-30 year old (younger drivers) and older drivers 50 year old and older (50+). The injury risk was described as a function of delta-v and injury risk curves based on Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). Furthermore, individual parameters like age and body mass index (BMI) as well as age and mass of the vehicle were considered. The statistical analysis was carried out using descriptive and multivariate statistics. This paper presents an overview of injury patterns of belted drivers and the probability of these drivers being injured in different accident scenarios.

Vehicle traffic accidents have been extensively studied in various countries, but any differences in traffic accidents the studied areas have not yet been adequately investigated. This paper aims to make a comparison study of head injury risks and kinematics of adult pedestrian accidents in Changsha, China, and Hannover, Germany, as well as correlate calculated physical parameters with injuries observed in real-world accidents of the two cities. A total of 20 passenger cars versus adult pedestrian accidents were collected from the two areas of study, including 10 cases from Changsha and 10 cases from Hannover. Virtual accident reconstructions using PC-Crash and MADYMO software were performed. The in-depth study focused on head injury risks while kinematics were conducted using statistical approaches. The results of the analysis of the Chinese data were compared with those of the German data.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The In-Depth Investigations of the Accident Research Unit Hannover (Germany), which have been carried out since 1973 are described in the paper. The importance of the detailed analysis consists in the method, in the statistical approach and the continuous data collection over the years. The government as well as industrial manufacturers use this data. Since 1985 a statistical procedure including a mathematical weighting procedure has been applied. About 1000 cases per year are collected. In the paper, principal aspects in the technique of data collection, definitions of variables and possibilities of data usage are described. The limitations of in-depth investigations are discussed in principle, and demands for a worldwide level are pointed out.

Crash helmets for motorcyclists are subject to certain test specifications by national and international reglements. For the European community the ECE-R 22 is valid, in America the tests are made according to SNELL as well as FMVSS 218. In all test procedures the protruding stability, the form stability of the carrier device and the shock absorption is tested. This study investigate impact situations in real accidents. The impact situation of 598 analysed crash helmets reveals that only 57.5% of all impact points are situated within the protection region of helmets defined by ECE, 14.1% in the marginal region and 28.2% clearly outside this protected region. The highest percentage of impacts occurres in the chin region, which is not taken into consideration in test definitions ECE as well as FMVSS. The so-called ‘double-impact’, which is a base of test procedures and induce therefore, is not confirmed in accident reality.

In this study, the accident simulation tests, the so-called crash tests, enforced by legislation and put into praxis are evaluated in regard of their conformity with reality. They are based on accident analyses from investigations at the place of accident, which are carried out by a scientifically trained team which documentates details of the accident event. 826 cars involved in traffic accidents with cars, trucks and other objects, in the greater vicinity of Hannover (FRG) were at our disposal for evaluation purposes. The study clearly reveals that impact simulations like those carried out at present, cover only approximately 34% of all situations of road traffic. This conclusion is derived from a comparison of accident framework conditions like overlapping degree, impact impulse direction and impact situation. For the frontal impact the offset impact, with two-third degree of overlapping, without rail-bound lead should be favoured.

1,o67 front-seat car passengers were analyzed in order to establish in which delta-V values injuries are sustained by belt-wearing passengers. Divisions were made according to type of collisions (frontal or lateral impact) and injuries. The injuries are described in detail, according to type and severity degree AIS, and compared with three vehicle groups of the respective year of construction.

220 accidents involving 224 vehicles in a lateral impact were analysed at the site of accident. Patterns and severity of injuries to passengers were analysed. With the help of this systematic analysis it was possible to establish a classification of influential parameters responsible for injuries occurring from a lateral impact. The seating position of the passengers, the vehicle weight, the impact direction, the impact point on the vehicle, use of safety belt, speed reduction of the vehicle at the time of collision as wall as the degree of intrusion into the passenger compartment were included in the evaluation. The study is also of importance for the forensic medicine expert. The data and information can be used to clarify the question of seating positions in accident vehicles as well as the reduction of injury severities by the use of safety belts.

Starting directly at the scene of the accident facts about 127 motorized and 136 non-motorized- two-wheel accidents that occurred in Hanover, West Germany, have been collected and analysed. These accidents were analysed case by case and in this publication, an attempt is made to provide a survey with regard to the collision mechanism and the injuries sustained by the involved cyclist. Measures to reduce the number of accidents as well as to influence the course of the accidents, are shown. The characteristic injury patterns and kinematic motions provide the guidelines for further security measures and serve as the basis for experimental tests.