Because 30% of the belted front occupants in frontal impact are passengers, it is important that their specific protection is checked in public experimental tests. The characteristics of belted front passengers in real-world frontal impact are analyzed, from the statistical viewpoint based on several hundred thousand accidents which occcurred in France over a ten-year period, and from the technical viewpoint based on a multi-disciplinary survey. It is seen that belted front passengers sustain chiefly severe thoracic and abdominal injuries (especially for the most elderly women). These injuries are attributable, above all, to the acceleration forces sustained and not to passenger cell intrusions in frontal impacts with an overlap bigger than 60%. (A)
Samenvatting