Upper interior head impacts : the safety performance of passenger vehicles.

Author(s)
Gabler, H.C. Willke, D.T. & Wagner, J.J.
Year
Abstract

This paper examines the safety performance of United States passenger vehicles in occupant head impacts with the upper interior. The upper interior is defined as the A/B/C-pillars, the side roof rails, the front header rail, and the rear header rail. The results of a recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fleet characterization effort involving over 220 free motion headform (FMH) impact tests on fourteen passenger cars, light trucks, and minivans are presented. The effects of variations in impact angle, impact location, and contact velocity on FMH responses are explored in this test series. Localized hard spots and protrusions (for instance motorized seat belt tracks) were identified and tested to determine design-specific head impact hazards. The conclusions are that: (1) head impact injury potential is a strong function of vehicle design; and (2) upper interior head impact protection varies widely from vehicle to vehicle.

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Publication

Library number
C 2706 (In: C 2572 [electronic version only]) /91 / IRRD 864740
Source

In: Proceedings of the thirteenth International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles ESV, Paris, France, 4-7 November, 1991, Volume 2, p. 1037-1047, 8 ref.

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This publication is one of our other publications, and part of our extensive collection of road safety literature, that also includes the SWOV publications.