Computer simulation has become an important tool for determining the cause and extent of injury in a variety of vehicle accidents. It is also playing an increasing role in litigation. The authors present three cases. The first case, a pedestrian fatality caused by impact from a delivery van fitted with a bullbar, was used in legal proceedings. The other two cases are research studies for commercial organisations with the objective to develop safer frontal structures: in the first one, a kangaroo bar which protects the car occupant during a collision with an animal but which is also relatively "friendly" in collisions with pedestrians; in the second one, a special design of a bullbar mounting which will not affect air bag deployment. The importance of developing computer models which are capable of representing a given physical situation with an acceptable degree of accuracy is emphasised in each case, together with the methods used to obtain data and to validate results. (A)
Abstract