Biomechanics of the human chest, abdomen, and pelvis in lateral impact.

Fourteen unembalmed cadavers were subjected to forty- four blunt lateral impacts at velocities of approximately 4.5, 6.7, or 9.4 m /s with a 15 cm flat pendulum weighing 23.4 kg. The experiments indicate that chest and abdominal injury can occur by a viscous mechanism during the rapid phase of body compression, and that the Viscous response is an effective measure of injury risk in side impacts.