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For more than 30 years, field research and laboratory testing have consistently demonstrated that properly wearing a seat belt dramatically reduces the risk of occupant death or serious injury in motor vehicle crashes. In severe rollover crashes, deformation to vehicle body structures can relocate body-mounted seat belt anchors altering seat belt geometry. In particular, roof pillar mounted shoulder belt anchors (“D-rings”) are subject to vertical and lateral deformation in the vehicle coordinate system. The ROllover Component test System (ROCS) test device was utilized to evaluate seat belt system performance in simulated severe rollover roof-to-ground impacts. A mechanical actuator was designed to dynamically relocate the D-ring assembly during a roof-to-ground impact event in an otherwise rigid test vehicle fixture. Anthropomorphic test device (ATD) kinematics and kinetics and seat belt tensions were compared between tests with and without D-ring relocation.

To date, several lateral impact studies (Bolte et al., 2000, 2003, Marth, 2002 and Compigne et al., 2004) have been performed on the shoulder to determine the response characteristics and injury threshold of the shoulder complex. Our understanding of the biomechanical response and injury tolerance of the shoulder would be improved if the results of these tests were combined. From a larger data base shoulder injury tolerance criteria can be developed as well as corridors for side impact dummies. Data from the study by Marth (2002, 12 tests) was combined with data from the previous studies. Twenty-two low speed tests (4.5 ± 0.7 m/s) and 9 high speed tests (6.7 ± 0.7 m/s) were selected from the combined data for developing corridors. Shoulder force, deflection and T1y acceleration corridors were developed using a minimization of cumulative variance technique.

Various factors were evaluated to determine their influence on the odds of front seat occupants receiving either fatal or serious/fatal injuries in single-vehicle rollovers. Factors evaluated included roof strength-to-vehicle weight ratio (as measured in accordance with FMVSS 216), and SAE H61 Effective Headroom. Roof strength-to-weight ratio had no statistically significant effect (p>0.05) on the likelihood of fatality or serious/fatal injury for belted or unbelted drivers. SAE H61 Effective Headroom had no statistically significant effect (p>0.05) on the likelihood of fatal or serious/fatal injury for seat belted drivers in rollovers.