In this PENDANT analysis, front to front collisions between passenger cars, with a focus on injury and compatibility aspects, are studied. The analysis is divided into three main parts; collision configuration, intrusion analysis and injury analysis. There are 104 case examples of frontal impacts where data exist on both vehicles involved in the accident. Of these cases there are 20 accidents between cars manufactured 1998 or later and where injury data on any belted front seat occupant is available for both cars. Data from this study shows that the proportion of severe injuries and compartment intrusion decreases for new cars. To investigate how the mass ratio and the body style influence the injury severity, there is a need for more in depth analysis to be done preferably using more cases. It is seen that the majority of impacts in the sample occur with rather low delta-V, but that there are many injuries with high severity. This could be a sign of poor compatibility when cars collide with other cars. It should be noted that all distribution figures are based on the PENDANT sample and do not necessarily represent frontal accidents in general. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting