Australian design rules (adrs) 10a and 10b are aimed at reducing injuries to drivers who strike steering columns. Adr 10b is also aimed at limiting rearward displacement of steering columns in frontal collisions. The report concludes that the adrs are effective in reducing the severity of injury to the abdomen/pelvis, chest and face of some types of drivers who strike steering assemblies in frontal impacts and are not ejected. The effect applies particularly to drivers involved in frontal crashes on the open road. Although not explicitly tested in the analysis, there was some evidence of disbenefits due to the adrs in terms of the severity of head injury of drivers of small cars, and of leg injury of belted male drivers and those aged up to 24 driving small cars. Due to the absence of crash severity information from the data analysed, the conclusions could not be considered definitive. However, they may be considered strongly indicative due to the analysis method of considering parallel changes in the injury patterns of a control group composed of drivers who did not contact steering assemblies.
Samenvatting