Traffic injury prevention
-
Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2015
Expanding pedestrian injury risk to the body region level: how to model passive safety systems in pedestrian injury risk functions.
Assessment of the effectiveness of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) plays a crucial role in accident research. A common way to evaluate the effectiveness of new systems is to determine the potentials for injury severity reduction. Because injury risk functions describe the probability of an injury of a given severity conditional on a technical accident severity (closing speed, delta V, barrier equivalent speed, etc.), they are predestined for such evaluations. ⋯ The body region-specific risk functions can then be used to model the effect of improved passive safety systems. These modified body region-specific injury risk functions are aggregated to a new pedestrian injury risk function. Passive safety systems can therefore be modeled in injury risk functions for the first time. A short example on how the results can be used for assessing the effectiveness of new driver assistance systems concludes the article.
-
Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2015
Effects of LATCH versus Available Seatbelt Installation of Rear Facing Child Restraint Systems on Head Injury Criteria for 6 Month Old Infants in Rear End Collisions.
The Lower Anchor and Tethers for CHildren (LATCH) system was introduced in vehicles made after September 1, 2002 and intended to make installation of rear and forward-facing child safety seats easier. Due to the lack of rear impact testing of RFCRS required per the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), the purpose of this study was to explore the effects, if any, of installation method of RFCRS on the performance of commonly purchased makes and models of RFCRS. Specifically, we hypothesize that in a 48 km/h (29.8 MPH) rear-end collision, installation of RFCRS using the LATCH system will result in higher Head Injury Criteria (HIC) values when compared to using the available lap/shoulder seatbelt (Emergency Locking Retractor - ELR or Automatic Locking Retractor - ALR). ⋯ The results of this study suggest that LATCH does not offer equal protection to lap/shoulder belts from head injuries in rear impacts when used with infant seat type RFCRS.
-
Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2015
Census study of real-life near-side crashes with modern side airbag-equipped vehicles in the United States.
This study aimed to investigate the crash characteristics, injury distribution, and injury mechanisms for Maximum Abbreviated Injury Score (MAIS) 2+ injured belted, near-side occupants in airbag-equipped modern vehicles. Furthermore, differences in injury distribution for senior occupants compared to non-senior occupants was investigated, as well as whether the near-side occupant injury risk to the head and thorax increases or decreases with a neighboring occupant. ⋯ Compared to non-senior occupants, the senior occupants sustained a considerably higher rate of thoracic and pelvis injuries, which should be addressed by improved thorax side airbag protection. The influence on near-side occupant injury risk by the neighboring occupant should also be further evaluated. Furthermore, side airbag performance and injury assessments in intersection crashes, especially those involving senior occupants in lower severities, should be further investigated and side impact dummy biofidelity and injury criteria must be determined for these crash scenarios.
-
Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2015
Occurrence of serious injury in real-world side impacts of vehicles with good side-impact protection ratings.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) introduced its side impact consumer information test program in 2003. Since that time, side airbags and structural improvements have been implemented across the fleet and the proportion of good ratings has increased to 93% of 2012-2014 model year vehicles. Research has shown that drivers of good-rated vehicles are 70% less likely to die in a left-side crash than drivers of poor-rated vehicles. Despite these improvements, side impact fatalities accounted for about one quarter of passenger vehicle occupant fatalities in 2012. This study is a detailed analysis of real-world cases with serious injury resulting from side crashes of vehicles with good ratings in the IIHS side impact test. ⋯ Individual changes to the IIHS side impact test have the potential to reduce the number of serious injuries in real-world crashes. These include impacting the vehicle farther forward (relevant to 28% of all cases studied), greater test severity (17%), the inclusion of far-side occupants (9%), and more restrictive injury criteria (9%). Combinations of these changes could be more effective.
-
Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2015
Concussion, Diffuse Axonal Injury, and AIS4+ Head Injury in Motor Vehicle Crashes.
This is a descriptive study of the annual incidence of brain injuries in motor vehicle crashes by type, seat belt use, and crash severity (delta V) using national accident data. The risk for concussion, diffuse axonal injury (DAI), and severe head injury was determined. ⋯ Concussions occur in about one out of 61 occupants in tow-away crashes. The risk was highest in rollover crashes (4.73 ± 1.09%) and it was reduced 69.2% by seat belt use. Severe brain injuries occurred less often and the risk was also reduced by seat belt use.