Single vehicle side impacts with fixed roadside objects are a significant safety problem, accounting for 2,200 of the 8,000 side impact fatalities each year. Approximately 225,000 occupants of motor vehicles are involved in a side impact with a fixed object each year yet very little is known about this type of collisions. Recommending effective corrective strategies has been impossible since knowledge about the mechanisms which cause such accidents and which ultimately cause injury to the vehicle occupants has not been developed. The fixed objects most frequently struck by passenger cars in side impact accidents are trees and utility poles. Unfortunately, developing an effective strategy for reducing impacts of these devices is very difficult. Side impacts are also most common on state, county and other local roads making a centralized effort at improvement more difficult. Roadside safety appurtenances of various types account slightly more than 25 percent of the side impact accident although they account for only 12 percent of the side impact, fixed roadside object fatalities. Side impact accidents tend to result in serious injuries more often than some other types of accidents. Approximately 81 percent of redirectional longitudinal barrier collisions result in no injury and only two percent results in serious or severe injuries. Side impacts with roadside objects, in contrast, result in no injury in about 37 percent of accident cases and 11 percent result in serious or severe injuries. When a side impact occurs, it is more likely to result in a severe injury than, for example, a longitudinal barrier collision. Researchers investigating multi-vehicle side impacts have concluded that most occupant injuries in these cases result from thoracic injuries. Side impacts with roadside objects, in contrast, often result in serious head injuries. Each of these injury mechanisms imply a different strategy for reducing occupant injuries. When vehicle occupants become involved in side impact accidents they are placed at grave risk of sustaining fatal or severe injuries. Improving the side impact performance of the roadside has great potential benefits for society but effectively reducing occupant injuries in such collisions requires detailed knowledge about how such collisions occur and what aspects of the collision cause serious occupant trauma. The side impact problem can not be effectively addressed by any one roadside safety group or by the implementation of any single policy. Appurtenance designers and manufactures must produce hardware that minimizes the side impact risk. Automobile manufacturers must design more crashworthy vehicles for side impacts. Utility companies and local transportation agencies must develop and adopt plans to removeor relocate poles and trees that present an unacceptable hazard to motorists. Unlike many roadside safety problems, the side impact problem must be addressed by all facets of the roadside safety community if meaningful improvements are to be realized. (No further information apart from this abstract is published in the proceedings). (A)
Samenvatting