Every year in Germany there are about 49,000 truck-related accidents which cause injuries to persons. In most of these cases, the other road user involved in the accident is injured or killed. However, it is also evident that the number of severely injured and killed truck occupants has been increased over the last 9 years. Thus in the year 2000, 279 truck occupants were killed and 3,179 were seriously injured on German roads. The retrospective real-world accident investigation within the framework of a total analysis of severe accidents in Bavaria in the year 1997 (approx. 1,000 cases), which is a representative data sample, shows that single truck and truck/truck accidents are the most dangerous kinds of accidents for truck occupants. Typical accident situations and characteristics have been analyzed within this context. Furthermore, the typical injury patterns of truck occupants, which are usually different from those of other road users involved in an accident, are presented. One major reason for this difference is that truck drivers do not usually wear seat belts. In addition, intrusions in the lower part of the driver's cab leads to injuries to the lower limbs while abdominal injuries are caused by the steering wheel. Finally, it will be shown that a wide spectrum of passive safety methods could reduce injuries on individuals. Therefore, a benefit study for different measures, such as wearing seat belts, additional restraint systems or enhancements to cab rigidity will be performed. A theoretical study of the cab intrusions with reference to delta v will be carried out in order to define requirements for future passive safety systems. For the covering abstract see ITRD E121180.
Abstract