Many low speed, rear impact accidents produce occupant neck injuries which have become a concern to the insurance industry and the medical profession. The authors, with the cooperation of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC), conducted approximately 30 low speed pendulum tests to measure the elastic and plastic properties of selected vehicles in rear end collisions. Displacement/time traces were generated from high speed video recordings of selected points on the vehicle and an anthropometric dummy occupant. The authors noted that a high impact speed was required to produce perceptible damage to the test vehicle. This speed caused violent movement to the test dummy neck. Discussion of these results with insurers indicates there is a conflict between bumper stiffness (required for the Canadian 8 km/h bumper standard) desired by the material damage section of the insurance industry, and the need for vehicle compliance for occupant protection. Investigation into the vehicle's elastic and plastic properties will also aid in the design of Civil Engineering roadside structures and provide a better understanding of injury causation at low impact speeds. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference, see IRRD 837684.
Abstract