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There is a paucity of recent data quantifying the injury risk of forces and accelerations that act on the whole body in a back-to-front direction. The purpose of this study was to quantify the level of back-to-front accelerations that volunteers felt were tolerable and non-injurious. Instrumented volunteers were dropped supine onto a mattress, and their accelerations during the impact with the mattress were measured. Accelerometers were located on the head, upper thoracic and lower lumbar regions. Drop heights started at 0.6 m (2 ft) and progressed upward as high as 1.8 m (6 ft) based on the test subjects' consent. The test panel was comprised of male and female subjects whose ages ranged from 25 to 63 years of age and whose masses ranged from 62 to 130 kg (136 to 286 lb). Peak head, upper thoracic and lower lumbar accelerations of 25.9 g, 29.4 g and 39.6 g were measured.

The kinematic response of vehicle occupants involved in tractor-to-passenger vehicle sideswipes was examined through a series of 13 crash tests. Each test vehicle and its occupants were instrumented with accelerometer arrays to measure and quantify the impact severity at various inter-vehicular angles and impact velocities. The passenger vehicle was occupied by a volunteer test subject in the driver and right-front passenger positions. The impact angle was varied between 3° and 11° to produce a sideswipe collision between the front bumper, steered wheel, and side components of the tractor and the side panels of the struck vehicle. The passenger vehicles were struck at different locations along their longitudinal axis at impact velocities between 3 mph and 11.5 mph. Accelerations were measured at the lumbar, cervicothoracic, and head regions of the driver and right-front passenger of the struck vehicle and the tractor driver.