Abstract
A substantial portion of the motor vehicle- related injuries in the United States is sustained by pedestrians; pedestrians comprise about 16 percent of the total number of traffic fatalities each year. It has been determined that an important classification of pedestrian injuries are thoracic injuries in children struck by the vehicle face. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is currently conducting a research program to investigate child pedestrian thoracic injuries. This paper describes the development of a family of child lateral thoracic impact surrogate devices representing 3, 6, 9, and 12 year old children.