This paper deals with an approach to analyze driver behavior during critical events using a driving simulator. A scenario of an unavoidable crash is simulated. Eighty subjects have participated in this experiment. Drivers' behavior is video recorded, as well as many mechanical and physiologicalmeasurements. Most drivers are observed to swerve away to avoid the collision. This leads many of them to have one arm in front of the steering wheel at time of crash. The drivers' trunk and arm positions during the collision, observed on the simulator, are analyzed with numerical simulations of a 56 km/h frontal collision. The results of the computational runs put forward injurious situations, especially when the driver's arm is behind the steering wheel and hits the head under airbag deployment. Then, an experimental study of airbag deployment with a hybrid III 50th percentile dummyis carried out to correlate numerical simulations. Finally, new airbag generations, allowing slower deployment, are tested. They induce a reductionof injury severity in the case of out of position (OOP). The full text ofthis paper may be found at: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv21/09-0534.pdf For the covering abstract see ITRD E145407.
Samenvatting