Car-pedestrian accidents in gothenburg during ten years

Takeuchi, Kei; Bunketorp, Olle; Ishikawa, Hirotoshi; Kajzer, Janusz

Affiliations

¹Japan Automobile Research Institute, Japan

²The Traffic Injury Register, Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset/Östra, Göteborg, Sweden

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in the incidence and consequences of car-pedestrian accidents in urban traffic during a ten year period. We compared the type and severity of the injuries recorded at the hospitals in Gothenburg during the periods 1983-1986 and 1993-1996. We focused on accidents where the pedestrian was hit by the front part of a car or taxi. The circumstances of the accidents and the impact speed were deduced from police reports. The shape and dimensions of the impacting structures were determined from standardized drawings of the vehicles.

Comparing the two time periods, the number of accidents reduced by 38%. The average ISS reduced overall, especially in children (50%) and the elderly (39%). The occurrence of serious, severe, critical, and fatal injuries (AIS3+) decreased in all regions of the body, and also the distribution of the injuries changed. Serious or more severe injuries became more frequent in the head and chest and less frequent in the knee and lower leg during the later period. The percentage of the injured with severe fractures of the knee or lower leg decreased significantly.

The main reasons for these differences are probably a reduced car-traffic intensity and a reduced traffic speed within the central part of the city. However, such changes cannot explain all the differences, and we conclude that changes in car design between the two time periods may have an influence too.

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Cited By (4)

Year	Entry
2000	Artis M, McDonald J, White R, Huang TJ, Shams T, Rangarajan N, Akiyama A, Okamoto M, Yoshizawa R, Ishikawa H. Development of a new biofidelic leg for use with a pedestrian dummy. In: Proceedings of the 2000 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 20-22, 2000; Montpellier, France.41-52.
2002	Liu X, Yang J. Effects of vehicle impact velocity and front-end structure on the dynamic responses of child pedestrians. In: Proceedings of the 2002 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 18-20, 2002; Munich, Germany.
2000	Takahashi Y, Kikuchi Y, Konosu A, Ishikawa H. Development and validation of the finite element model for the human lower limb of pedestrians. Stapp Car Crash J. 2000;44:335-355. SAE 2000-01-SC22.
2001	Matsui Y. Biofidelity of TRL legform impactor and injury tolerance of the human leg in lateral impact. Stapp Car Crash J. 2001;45:495-510. SAE 2001-22-0023.