It can be expected that equipping new vehicles of all categories with air bags will lead to an increase of accidents in which injuries are assumed to be caused by an air bag. Answers to related questions call for comprehensive experimental findings. In this context possible injury-inducing effects of air bags in standard and non-standard sitting positions (out-of-position situations) of passengers are of particular interest. DEKRA Automobil AG carried out several tests to analyse the effects of air bags on belted drivers in the standard sitting position and unbelted front passengers bent forward (out of position). In six full-scale crash tests the vehicle impacts a rigid barrier with 40% frontal overlap. In four of the tests the collision speed was 55 km/h, in two tests 34 km/h the other 29 kn/h. A belted dummy was placed on the driver's seat in the standard position. On the front passenger seat an identical dummy was placed unbelted and leaning forward. Two further tests were carried out with a stationary vehicle and triggered the front passenger air bag. On the front passenger's seat was an unbelted dummy bent forward. In one case its position was extreme, with the face close to the cover of the air bag. In the other case the distance between the dummy's nose and the dashboard - as in the full-scale tests - was 175 mm. Vehicle deceleration and vehicle damage measured during the tests, together with the loads on the dummies and their kinematics are described. (A)
Abstract