Side impacts of cars with poles or trees have been shown to be very hazardous to the occupants, even when seat belts are worn. This paper reviews the literature which supports the view that the worst seating positions are those centred on the line of entry of the pole. It is also demonstrated that seat belts reduce, but do not remove, the risk of death or serious injury for occupants seated on the side of the car remote from the impact, even when centred on the pole. Serious head injuries are usually sustained by those who die in pole to car side impacts. The paper describes full - scale experiments performed to determine the impact speed (which was found to be very low) necessary to produce deep penetration of the car by a pole and death to centred occupants. It is concluded that some reduction in head injuries and hence fatalities would result, for the lower speed collisions, by attention to proper shaping and padding of the interior surfaces of the car, but that relocation or modification of some roadside poles and trees is essential, if improvements are to be more extensive. Modifications of the car, for example by the addition of side door reinforcement, is shown to be of little value in reducing the hazards of pole collisions. Similarly, padding the pole had little beneficial effect. (Author/publisher)
Abstract