Side impact crashes account for a substantial proportion of injuries and harm to Australian passenger car occupants. Twenty five percent of serious casualties and 28% of fatalities to vehicle occupants in Victoria occurred from side impacts. This crash configuration accounted for one-third of vehicle occupant harm (approximately A$l billion annually) during the early nineties. This project aimed to develop a method for optimising the safety systems of new passenger vehicles to minimise occupant harm in side impact collisions. A representative sample of crashes and injuries to occupants in Australian passenger cars involved in real-world side impact crashes was analysed in terms of injury incidence and societal harm. The analysis of side impact crash data has been used to set the priorities for the development of a means of assessing injury in side impacts. The available human impact tolerance data for side impacts was reviewed, as a basis for the development of the necessary Injury Assessment Functions IAFs. Preliminary values for lateral injury criteria have been proposed, mainly based on cadaver test results. The steps required to develop and validate the required IAFs are described. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting