ECE Regulation 12 and EC Directives 74/297 and 91/662 define the minimum acceptable level of performance of cars in frontal collisions and are in general use throughout Europe. Regulation 12 defines the acceptable limits of steering column movement while the unadopted Regulation 33 defines the minimum occupant space. There is now intense discussion concerning more stringent requirements that will result in cars offering improved levels of protection to their occupants. The development of a new test procedure must be based on an understanding of the real-world crash event. It is essential to understand the nature of the problem that is to be addressed. The circumstances in which injuries occur as well as the nature of the injuries and their cause must be known. Much of current research and development addresses details of car design or occupant injury. There is little published data that summarises the pattern of injuries and identifies each of the key contact points. This paper analyses real-world crash data to describe the patterns of injury sustained by restrained drivers and identifies the most current contact zones. (A)
Samenvatting