This article presents evidence to advocate new vehicle design features that would help protect vehicle occupants from the severe or serious head injuries caused by many sideways collisions. Various possible design methods are discussed, as are the methods for testing them. Almost all head injuries result from direct impacts with the side header rails, the B or A posts, or with intruding objects. Possible improvements in vehicle design include the following: (a) padding of B posts and side header rails; (b) constructing a space pad between the occupants shoulder and the car door, and the "B" post. This should be well padded at shoulder height; (c) construction of air bags into car doors. These could be a satisfactory alternative to shoulder spacers; (d) padded spacers between front occupants; (e) anti locking brakes; and (f) altering the design of the cabs of trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles so that they protrude forward a little at the level of the frontal underrun bumper or its equivalent. The impact would then be into the sill and below the pelvis of the car occupant. Test methods for (a) a simulated head impact component test and (b) full scale tests of vehicle occupant kinematics in side impacts are also suggested.
Abstract