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Studies of the effectiveness of safety belts were carried out under various directions of crashes, including dynamic sled investigations, destructive barrier tests, and impact tests. The studies showed that three-point belts were effective in frontal impact from 0-30 deg, but that their effectiveness diminished after 45 deg because the belt slips off the chest. The three-point belt did not provide protection for the knees. The studies also pointed out that the anchorage system of the belt is a very important factor in its effectiveness.

By accurately reconstituting accidents whose parameters are well known from multidisciplinary accident investigation, it is possible to associate forces and accelerations values with injuries sustained by occupants involved in in-the-field accidents. In this study, two in-the-field accidents, their reconstruction conducted by using dummies as occupants, and their reconstruction then with human cadavers are analysed. These accidents reconstructions allow to associate and compare accident occupants injuries with acceleration forces, injuries criteria values measured on dummies, and, on the other hand, accelerations, injuries criteria values, injuries sustained by cadavers during the second accident reconstruction.

In this paper are analysed the results of ten accident reconstructions of 5 frontal actual car traffic accidents. These accidents involved 9 restrained occupants, and were reconstructed first with 50th percentile dummies and then with human cadavers. The results of these reconstructions are analysed in order to compare the injuries sustained in real accident first, with the injury criteria values recorded on dummies, and second with injuries and injury criteria values found on cadavers. The results show that an AIS 3 head injury in actual accident could correspond to a low value of HIC recorded on dummy, that there is a large scatter in chest injury criteria related to chest injuries, and that if we need a protection for almost all occupants in frontal impact, we have to choose chest injury criteria value lower than the proposed one.

Side impact accidents are the most severe and second frequent traffic accident configuration. By a comparison of results of tests with and without intrusion, this paper shows that the severity of side impact for the occupant seated near the impacted side is mainly due to intrusion of the side wall inside the car compartment of the struck car. Without intrusion, injury criteria recorded on a dummy are much lower than when there is intrusion. The influence of intrusion can be explained by the deformation speed of the side wall of the struck car. The velocity change of different parts of cars and of dummy have been determined in two tests conducted at 40 and 50 Kph. The diagrams of these velocity changes indicate that the door and the frame seat of the struck car sustain a velocity change higher than the car floor. The pelvis of the dummy seated near the impacted side sustains a velocity change in the same order of magnitude as the door, whereas its chest has a lower velocity change.

The paper presents a comparison of kinematic responses between the MVMA-2D and the MAC-DAN pedestrian models and pedestrian cadaver kinematics observed in staged car/pedestrian impact tests. The paper also discusses the injuries experienced in the cadaver tests. Seven cadaver specimens in the standing posture were impacted at 25 mph by two different cars: one having a steel bumper and the other having a plastic bumper. The MVMA-2D and MAC-DAN mathematical pedestrian models were employed to simulate pedestrian impacts at 25 mph by a vehicle with a stylized geometry that is similar to the vehicles used in cadaver tests. Comparison of the simulations and the cadaver tests show that both models require further refinement to be able to more accurately simulate the kinematics of the lower legs during impacts with the vehicle bumper.

Several similar real world pedestrian accidents are described and a number of different methods of reconstructing these accidents are reported. The results of full scale experimental reconstructions of two of the accidents using both dummies and cadavers as the pedestrian surrogate are presented. The effects on the pedestrian’s head contact with the vehicle of variations in the initial impact conditions are examined by computer simulation using the MADYMO two dimensional mathematical model. The reproduction of the vehicle damage resulting from pedestrian head contact in four of the accidents using an impactor is then described. The relative merits of different methods of reproducing accidents are considered and a methodology for the reproduction of real world accidents outlined.

This paper is based on the results of 50 pedestrian cadaver tests in which the lower limbs injuries were carefully analyzed. The leg injury distribution, the consequences of these injuries will be evaluated through the analysis of equivalent injuries sustained by pedestrian in traffic accidents. These injuries are of several types and involve all biological tissues of lower limbs. We propose a classification of these injuries according to their kind, their location, their number and their association. This classification allows us to point out that present scales are not enough detailed and are not suitable for the reality of these injuries. On this basis we propose intermediate stages in order to refine the present AIS and MAIS scales.

Experimental car-pedestrian collisions were performed with a modified PART 572 dummy and cadavers; they involved some reconstructions of real accidents. These collisions brought to light the differences between the kinematics and the impact responses when dummy and human subject are compared under identical and realistic test conditions to simulate a pedestrian struck sideways. These differences are mainly due to the overall relative stiffness of the PART 572 dummy when compared to cadavers. Same-type collisions were therefore carried out again with other dummies which were designed so as to simulate human response in lateral impact better; thus they were also assumed to display better kinematics as pedestrians. APROD and ONSER dummies were used; when compared to PART 572, their flexibility and deformation capabilities are greater, in particular as regards their thoraxes and shoulders.

EUROSID is the side impact dummy that has been designed and has now been almost completely developed by a group of European research laboratories working together under the auspices of the European Experimental Vehicles Committee (EEVC). It represents a bringing together of components and ideas from the three experimental sided impact dummies sponsored by the EEC1 as part of their Biomechanics Programme. These were produced by APR (Peugeot-Renault), ONSER, and MIRA. This paper describes the evolution of the EUROSID dummy and discusses the advances in biofidelity, the responses of its various components to impact, and the types of measurements it can record.

Following the European Experimental Vehicles Committee's definitions, the mobile barrier frame was built by several partners and rigid polyurethane foam selected as the material for the front deformable face. A validation process consisted of different tests distributed among ONSER, BASt, and TRRL. ONSER, UTAC, and TRRL conducted impact tests on individual blocks, total tests against a dynamometric wall, and lateral impact tests against the Renault 14 as struck cars. The validation was completed by performing barrier-to-car tests at the BASt facility according to the proposed EEVC impact test procedure. The basis for comparison was given by car/car tests under the same conditions and with cars of the same type. These cars were the Golf and Daimler Benz (W 123 series). Results from this test series show the barrier face has a very useful crash simulation fidelity and repeatability

In the United States as well as in Europe standard test procedures for car occupants protection in side impact accidents are discussed. These procedures correspond to a new approach for side impact protection; both are based on full scale test, but with different parameters for its definition. A test procedure is necessarely a compromise between a fidelic representation of accidents and simplicity for a good repeatability. As the application of a procedure would improve the protection offered to car occupants in real accidents, it seems important to evaluate the benefits which could be expected from its use by comparison of the procedure parameters with the description of the accidents.

The Eurosid dummy designed by several European research laboratories was used and evaluated in intensive test programs conducted in North America, in Japan, and in Europe. Analysis of evaluation reports that Eurosid is the most biofidelic dummy, but its response to impact has discripancies by comparison to ISO requirements for side impact dummies. This paper includes the analysis of Eurosid pelvis response to impacts, considers the influence of some possible design modifications to improve its response, and select those which are valuable. DURING THE LAST TWO YEARS, the EUROSID dummy was used by many research laboratories and test groups. The results of tests using the EUROSID dummy show that it may be improved to have a response closer to the biofidelity requirements, especially for the thorax and the pelvis.

This paper presents information on the real behavior of car barriers on french freeway medians. We analyzed about 5500 run-off-the-road accidents on medians, involving cars and trucks, to investigate the advisability of modifying safety devices. The aim of this change would be to restrain heavy trucks. Although the truck crossover accidents are spectaculary severe, and a real problem, the most important problem are cars returning to the roadway. So, considering the respective traffic of cars and trucks, we must be careful not to increase the rate of car return with truck barriers less flexible than car barriers.

The WorldSID project is a global effort to design a new generation side impact crash test dummy under the direction of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The first WorldSID crash dummy will represent a world-harmonized mid-size adult male. This paper discusses the research and rationale undertaken to define the anthropometry of a world standard midsize male in the typical automotive seated posture. Various anthropometry databases are compared region by region and in terms of the key dimensions needed for crash dummy design. The Anthropometry for Motor Vehicle Occupants (AMVO) dataset, as established by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), is selected as the basis for the WorldSID mid-size male, updated to include revisions to the pelvis bone location. The proposed mass of the dummy is 77.3kg with full arms. The rationale for the selected mass is discussed. The joint location and surface landmark database is appended to this paper.