Frontal impact damage and restrained front seat occupant injuries were investigated in a sample of 1872 frontal crashes from The Midlands of England. Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) equal to or greater than 2 torso injury from the seat belt alone increased in frequency with increasing overlap and was most frequent under 50 km/h. In crash severities of 35 to 52 km/h, only oblique and small overlap deformations caused thigh injury of AIS equal to or greater than 2 and serious head injury was most frequent with oblique deformation. The usefulness of an asymmetrical barrier, and a deformable barrier were noted. The usefulness of an asymmetrical barrier, and a deformable barrier were noted. At higher crash severities AIS equal to or greater than 3 injuries were common with full overlap rectangular deformation but with full overlap of the front face high levels of intrusion were more frequently related to asymmentric loading of the passenger compartment.(A)
Samenvatting