For the improvement of the car front as the main contact zone between man and vehicle, the effects of changes or improvements have to be examined and judged concerning the severity of impacts in crash tests. Certain criteria which have been derived from biomechanical research and from comparison with real accidents allow to assess the equivalent injury severity (eis) from the measurements using anthropometric dummies. The influences of different geometrical design parameters on the severity of impacts can be studied through special test equipment using a vehicle with a changeable front section. From the test results tendencies become evident for improving the car front, in fact to lower the risk of pedestrians being severely injured in a vehicle-pedestrian-accident.(a)* this paper is presented in an abstract form. For the covering abstract of the conference, see IRRD abstract no 226476.
Abstract