Injury patterns in rollovers by crash severity

Digges, Kennerly; Eigen, Ana María; Dahdah, Sa΄id

Affiliations

¹The National Crash Analysis Center, The George Washington University, USA

Abstract

Earlier studies by the authors have proposed separating rollover crashes according to belt use, ejection status, and single vs. multiple harmful events. These different classifications were associated with differences that could substantially alter the risk of serious injury. For each classification, metrics to characterize rollover severity were presented. For most single vehicle crashes, the number of roof contacts with the ground was found to predict injury risk. For multi-harmful event crashes the extent of damage caused by the most severe non-rollover harmful event, combined with the number of roof impacts was found to predict injury risk.

This paper examines NASS/CDS 1995-2003 to determine the injury distribution by body region for the most frequently occurring rollover classifications that result in MAIS 3+ injuries from sources inside the vehicle. The examined classifications of rollovers include: belted not-ejected and unbelted not-ejected. For each category the injury patterns by body region were presented. Differences in injuries in near-side and far-side rollovers were evaluated.

In general, head injuries were the most frequent MAIS 3+ injury for belted occupants. However, trunk injuries were more frequent for belted occupants in near-side rollovers. It was found that a higher fraction of severe injuries occurred in far-side rollovers compared to near-side rollovers. This tendency held for rollovers with one roof impact or less as well as higher severity rollovers.

The frequency of injury and ejection for near and farside rollovers was examined. The MAIS 3+ HARM distribution by body region was examined as a function of number of roof impacts and direction of roll for not ejected front seat occupants. About 46% of the occupants were exposed to far-side rollovers, but more than half of the injuries occurred in far-side rollovers.

To examine occupant kinematics in injury producing rollovers, a MADYMO 6.1 model of a front occupant compartment of a mid-size SUV with a belted Hybrid III dummy was used. The model was validated against an available staged test with a similar configuration.

Computer modeling suggest that a higher tripping acceleration results in higher roll rates which, in turn, can lead to increased number of roof impacts. Associated with the increase in roll rate was an increase in the maximum head velocity.

The data analysis and computer modeling suggest the need to assess the severity of the vehicle loading that causes the vehicle to rollover. The severity of the tripping forces may be related to the risk of injury.

Links

URL: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv19/05-0355-O.pdf

Cited Works (1)

Year	Entry
2003	Digges KH, Eigen AM. Crash attributes that influence the severity of rollover crashes. In: Proceedings of the 18th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 19-22, 2003; Nagoya, Japan.

Cited By (11)

Year	Entry
2006	Digges K, Eigen A. Classification of rollovers according to crash severity. In: 50th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 16-18, 2006; Chicago, IL.141-153.
2007	Hu J, Chou CC, Yang KH, King AI. A weighted logistic regression analysis for predicting the odds of head/face and neck injuries during rollover crashes. In: 51st Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 15-17, 2007; Melbourne, Australia.363-379.
2013	Digges K, Tahan F, Grzebieta R, Bambach M, Mattos G, McIntosh A. Crash damage patterns associated with chest injuries in far-side rollovers. In: Proceedings of the 23rd International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 27-30, 2013; Seoul, South Korea.
2015	Tan T, Grzebieta R, Bambach M, Olivier J, McIntosh A. Association between vehicle panel damage and thoracic injury in rollover crashes. In: Proceedings of the 24th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 8-11, 2015; Gothenburg, Sweden.
2008	Ridella SA, Eigen AM. Biomechanical investigation of injury mechanisms in rollover crashes from the CIREN database. In: Proceedings of the 36th International Workshop on Human Subjects for Biomechanical Research. November 2, 2008; San Antonio, TX.
2010	Kerrigan JR, Ash JH, Bose D, Sochor M, Crandall J, Funk J, Cormier J, Manoogian S, Ridella S, Scarboro M, Summers S. Thoracic injury mechanisms in rollover crashes. In: Proceedings of the 38th International Workshop on Human Subjects for Biomechanical Research. 2010.
2008	Ridella SA, Eigen AM. Biomechanical investigation of injury mechanisms in rollover crashes from the ciren database. In: Proceedings of the 2008 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 17-19, 2008; Bern, Switzerland.33-47.
2013	Bambach MR, Grzebieta RH, McIntosh AS, Mattos GA. Cervical and thoracic spine injury from interactions with vehicle roofs in pure rollover crashes. Accid Anal Prev. January 2013;50:34-43.
2017	Ridella SA. The Contribution of Vehicle, Occupant and Crash Factors to the Risk of Injury as a Result of Vehicle Rollover: New Approaches to Data and Modeling Analysis [PhD thesis]. Gothenburg, Sweden: Chalmers University of Technology; 2017.
2014	Tahan FJ. An Integrated Approach to Identify Thoracic Injuries in Rollover Crashes [PhD thesis]. Washington, DC: The George Washington University; January 31, 2014.
2007	Hu J. Neck Injury Mechanism in Rollover Crashes: A Systematic Approach for Improving Rollover Neck Protection [PhD thesis]. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University; 2007.