Historical reference to pelvic fracture in traffic injury begins with Joseph Francois Malgaigne who in 1847 described patterns of pelvic fractures that occurred with falls, kicks from animals, and being crushed between carriages or run over by their wheels. Despite all our modem advances in treatment, closed, unstable fractures of the pelvis have a 10% mortality as well as long-term morbidity in the survivors. If the fracture is open the mortality goes up to 50%. Interface refers to the point where interaction occurs between two systems or processes. We will examine the interface between the human pelvis and the interior of the vehicle to better understand the nature and mechanism of fracture of the pelvis. From a medical standpoint much has been done to develop systems for treatment of unstable pelvic fractures but despite the elaborate classifications available, little is known about the actual mechanism of some of these injuries. Viano, 1989, stated, "Occupant protection in side impact is the next frontier in auto safety." Legislation affecting the standards for side impact protection comes into effect in September 1993. Review of the basis for this legislation shows that much of it depends upon cadaver studies and the response of instrumented dummies in terms of acceleration, and to some extent distortion of the model used. There are a series of instrumented dummies currently in use (Bio SID, Euro SID). This paper examines the apparent responses of the human pelvis (which might be referred to as Human SID) to impacts in real world accidents. (A)
Abstract