The National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) 1998-2000 was queried to determine the frequency of serious injuries in multiple impact crashes and the distribution of injuries by crash sequence. The data set included all passenger cars and light trucks in the NASS Crashworthiness Data System (NASS/CDS). The results showed that 42% of the Maximum Abbreviated Injury Score (MAIS) 3+ injuries were in crashes that involved more than one harmful event. Approximately 24% of the MAIS 3+ injuries involved two harmful events, and 18% involved 3 or more harmful events. For multiple crashes with serious injuries, the most frequent initial impact direction was frontal (50%) followed by side (44.9%). The most frequent second impact was side (48.4%) followed by frontal (27.6%). The most harmful sequences were side-side (27.7%), front-side (15.8%) and front-front (14.9%). The data suggest the need for further investigation and classification of complex multiple impact crashes to aid in the design of safety systems.
Samenvatting