Injuries to children one to three years old in side impact crashes

McCray, Linda; Scarboro, Mark; Brewer, John

Affiliations

¹National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, United States

²Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, United States

Abstract

Children comprise more than 50% of the rear seat occupants in motor vehicle crashes. Side impact is a particularly harmful crash mode. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has undertaken a study of real-world data to help characterize crash parameters and injury causation of cihildren in side impact crashes. Although there is a paucity of data on children in motor vehicle crashes a detailed analysis of real-world crashes was conducted to determine any potential safety improvements that can be afforded this population of rear seat occupants.

A weighted query of the National Automotive Sampling System - Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS) showed that 9% of child involvements one to three years old were unrestrained, while the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) showed that 46% of the fatalities in that age group were unrestrained. A NASS-CDS query of side impact crashes with a change in velocity (ΔV) ≥ 30 kph was analyzed to determine which body regions were injured. Injury causations were reviewed to determine injury source and severity. Children injured in side impact crashes of this intensity seemed to exhibit a preponderance of head injuries in addition to those to the torso and extremities. Children on the near side in these crashes tended to suffer more severe injuries than far side occupants. Several case studies from the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) were examined. The cases involved children aged one to three years old who were injured in forward facing child restraint systems (CRS) appropriate for their age. Observations were made about the influence on injury severity of relative seating position (near side, center, far side), crash severity, structural intrusion, and attributes of the child restraint systems. For these cases, the evaluation and applicability of existing countermeasures were considered qualitatively.

Links

URL: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv20/07-0186-W.pdf

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Cited By (7)

Year	Entry
2013	Hauschild HW, Humm JR, Yoganandan N. Injury potential at center rear seating positions in rear-facing child restraint systems in side impacts. In: 57th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). September 22-25, 2013; Quebec City, QC.281-295.
2009	Sullivan LK, Louden AE. NHTSA’s initial evaluation of child side impact test procedures. In: Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 15-18, 2009; Stuttgart, Germany.
2011	Yoshida R, Okada H, Nomura M, Yokohashi M, Fujii C, Mizuno K, Yonezawa H, Tanaka Y, Hosokawa N, Matsui Y. Identification of head injury mechanisms of a child occupant in a child restraint system based on side impact tests. In: Proceedings of the 22nd International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 13-16, 2011; Washington, DC.
2017	Hauschild HW, Humm JR, Arbogast KB, Maltese MR, Pintar FA, Yoganandan N, Kaufman B. Protection of children in child restraint systems in oblique impacts: relative motion of the child and child restraint. In: Proceedings of the 25th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 5-8, 2017; Detroit, MI.
2014	Ita M, Seacrist T, Dahle E, Bolte J IV, Kang YS. Comparison of Q3s ATD biomechanical responses to pediatric volunteers. In: Proceedings of the 10th Ohio State University Injury Biomechanics Symposium. May 18-20, 2014; Columbus, OH.
2011	Yoshida R, Okada H, Nomura M, Mizuno K, Tanaka Y, Hosokawa N. Head impact mechanisms of a child occupant seated in a child restraint system as determined by impact testing. Stapp Car Crash J. 2011;55:117-139.
2014	Ita ME. Comparison of Q3s Anthropomorphic Test Device Biomechanical Responses to Pediatric Volunteers [Master's thesis]. The Ohio State University; 2014.