Development of rear pre-crash safety system for rear-end collisions

Matsubayashi, Kiyoka; Yamada, Yukinori; Iyoda, Motomi; Koike, Shin; Kawasaki, Tomoya; Tokuda, Masanori

Affiliations

Abstract

Pre-crash safety systems using radar detecting technology have been commercialized in the market. While the primary focus of these systems have been for frontal collisions, rear-end collisions actually have a higher proportion of the traffic accident injuries in Japan.

In this paper, a new pre-crash safety system for rear-end collisions is explained. It was developed to help alert drivers of vehicles approaching from behind, and also to reduce whiplash injury. This new system uses a millimeter-wave radar installed in the rear bumper to detect a vehicle approaching closely from behind. If it judged that there is high risk of collision, the hazard lights would flash to warn the driver of the approaching vehicle and the headrests are automatically moved forward. Sensors in the headrests detect the location of the occupants’ head and shifts the headrests to a closer position to the head before the collision occurs, thereby reducing the risk of whiplash injury. This paper shows the effectiveness of the pre-crash hazard light and pre-crash headrest technology.

Links

URL: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv20/07-0146-O.pdf

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Cited By (4)

Year	Entry
2010	Schmitt K-U, Niederer PF, Muser MH, Walz F. Trauma Biomechanics: Accidental Injury in Traffic and Sports. 2nd ed. Deidelberg, Germany: Springer; 2010.
2009	Kuroda K, Izumikawa I, Kouketsu O. Logical mediation structures for Toyota’s driver support systems. In: Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 15-18, 2009; Stuttgart, Germany.
2011	Siegmund GP. What occupant kinematics and neuromuscular responses tell us about whiplash injury. Spine. December 2011;36(suppl 25S):S175-S179.
2008	Farmer CM, Zuby DS, Wells JK, Hellinga LA. Relationship of dynamic seat ratings to real-world neck injury rates. Traffic Inj Prev. December 2008;9(6):561-567.