A minor rear-end collision resulted in the death of a four-year old child, occupying the right-front seat of the striking vehicle. The child was restrained by means of a lap belt, the shoulder portion of the belt system having been placed behind the child's back. The child was leaning forward, when the vehicle's brakes were suddenly applied, just prior to the crash. The passenger air bag deployed and the child sustained fatal neck injuries. The case incident was subject to an in-depth collision investigation. Physical evidence associated with the crash, combined with witness statements, and medical data, enabled the vehicle dynamics, occupant kinematics, and occupant contract points to be accurately determined. The collision was subsequently reconstructed using an instrumented child dummy and static deployment of exemplar air bags. A car to rigid barrier dynamic test was also conducted. High-speed film and video recordings of the tests revealed that even minor changes in the position of the dummy had considerable effect on the post-deployment kinematics. Combining the experience gained from a number of such trials, the real-world event was successfully reconstructed in the laboratory. (A)
Samenvatting