The aim of this project was to evaluate changes in vehicle design using the Road Injury Cost Database. Personal injury insurance claims data, together with data from other sources was used to develop a database of comprehensive injury costs by body region and severity level. Injury Assessment Functions were used to estimate the probability of injury resulting from barrier crash tests. These probabilities were used to estimate costs of injuries for driver and front passenger in vehicles tested in the Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP). It was found that costs were considerably lower in later tests compared with tests of earlier models of the same vehicle. Costs were lower for offset tests compared to full frontal tests. This method shows promise for evaluating changes in vehicle design aimed at improving occupant protection. (A)
Samenvatting