Abstract
To gain a better understanding of the movement of head and cervical spine experiments were performed on Post Mortal Test Objects (PMTO's) and volunteers. All experiments were performed on a crash sled. For some experiments, the accelerations of head and chest were measured by three axis accelerometers. To visualise the movement of the cervical spine, during the impact, two vertebra bodies of the PMTO's were marked with targets. Their movement was observed during the impact phase for various boundary conditions. The studies have shown that improvements in the construction of seat and head restraint could reduce the risk of neck injuries during rear end impact. (A)