The concept of Harm was developed for assessing injury mitigation benefits from vehicle safety improvements. This study for the Federal Office of Road Safety in Australia builds upon previous work in this area. Harm reductions were determined for a range of vehicle safety measures for front seat occupants involved in frontal crashes in Australia. These included supplementary driver and passenger airbags (fullsize and facebags), belt tighteners and webbing clamps, improved seat and seatbelt geometry, padded steering wheels, better design of lower instrument panels, knee bolsters, and a seatbelt warning device. Injury reductions were estimated by body region and Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) improvements using available literature, unpublished data, and where necessary, expert group assessments. Total annual harm savings were then computed using injury cost statistics by body region and injury severity.
Abstract