Occupant protection from impact with the steering assembly.

THIS PAPER DISCUSSES AREAS OF NHTSA RESEARCH RELATING TO THE ACCIDENT ENVIRONMENT OF THE DRIVER IMPACTING THE STEERING ASSEMBLY. THESE INCLUDE: - ACCIDENT ANALYSES TO DEFINE THE PROBLEM. - DEVELOPMENT OF BIOMECHANICAL CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF INJURY SEVERITY ON TEST SURROGATES. - LABORATORY TESTING OF STEERING ASSEMBLIES TO DETERMINE THE SAFETY PERFORMANCE. - COMPUTER MODELING FOR RECONSTRUCTING ACCIDENTS AND ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF CHANGES TO STEERING ASSEMBLY CHARACTERISTICS ON DRIVER RESPONSES. THE ACCIDENT ANALYSES QUANTIFY THE PROBLEM IN TERMS OF INJURIES AND FATALITIES SUSTAINED BY DRIVERS AS A RESULT OF IMPACTING THE STEERING ASSEMBLY. RELATIONSHIPS WILL BE DEVELOPED BETWEEN FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY OF INJURY AND SOURCE OF INJURY, AFFECTED BODY REGIONS, CRASH DIRECTION AND SEVERITY, AND STEERING ASSEMBLY RESPONSE PARAMETERS. BIOMECHANICAL INJURY CRITERIA ON BLUNT THORACIC IMPACT IS AVAILABLE AND MAY BE APPLICABLE TO CHEST IMPACT WITH STEERING WHEEL HUBS. A PROGRAM WAS RECENTLY COMPLETED WHICH EVALUATED THE SAFETY PERFORMANCE OF SEVERAL PRODUCTION STEERING ASSEMBLIES AND, ALSO, ONE IMPROVED STEERING ASSEMBLY CONSTRUCTED FROM COMPONENTS WITH DESIRABLE SAFETY ATTRIBUTES. THE PERFORMANCE WAS EVALUATED VIA COMPONENT TESTS AND DYNAMIC SLED TESTS WITH INSTRUMENTED HYBRID III DUMMIES. A COMPUTER PROGRAM ENTITLED "S/TEERING C/OLUMN AND O/CCUPANT RE/SPONSE S/IMULATION" (SCORES) HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO MODEL THE VARIOUS INTERACTIONS OF A DRIVER IMPACTING A STEERING ASSEMBLY IN A FRONTAL COLLISION. THE SCORES MODEL IS USED TO PREDICT THE OCCUPANT/STEERING ASSEMBLY RESPONSE WHEN CERTAIN ASSEMBLY CHARACTERISTICS ARE CHANGED, I.E., COLUMN FORCE DEFLECTION PROPERTIES, AND TO RECONSTRUCT ACTUAL ACCIDENT CASES. A JOINT EFFORT BY NHTSA AND TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS CENTER (TSC) IS BEING CONDUCTED TO RECONSTRUCT THE ACCIDENT ENVIRONMENT OF OCCUPANTS INJURED BY THE STEERING ASSEMBLY. THE SCORES MODEL WILL BE EXERCISED FOR VARIOUS MAKE/MODEL VEHICLES, OCCUPANT SIZES, AND ACCIDENT CONFIGURATIONS WHICH ESSENTIALLY COMPRISE THIS ACCIDENT ENVIRONMENT. COUNTERMEASURES WILL BE INTRODUCED INTO THE SCORES MODEL AND THE EFFECT ON INJURY AND FATALITY REDUCTION WILL BE ASSESSED.(A) FOR THE COVERING ABSTRACT OF THE CONFERENCE SEE IRRD 802816.