Cyclist kinematics in car impacts reconstructed in simulations and full scale testing with Polar dummy

van Schijndel, Margriet; de Hair, Stefanie; Rodarius, Carmen; Fredriksson, Rikard

Affiliations

Abstract and keywords

For the development of effective vehicle‐related safety solutions to improve cyclist and pedestrian protection, essential information on impact locations, impact situations and cyclist and pedestrian kinematics in impacts with passenger cars is fundamental.

Accidentology research showed that cyclists typically have a higher impact location, with a larger share of injuries from the windscreen area . Majority of accidents happened at crossroads (72% of the Dutch cases). The average car speed was 36 kph, the median bicycle speed 14 kph.

A cyclist simulation study captured kinematics and injuries to head, torso, pelvis and legs for several human body sizes, bicycle types and generic car models. Six full‐scale crash tests (passenger car versus cyclist or pedestrian (Polar II dummy) had as main parameters: head impact location (top of bonnet, windscreen, A‐pillar), vehicle speed (40 kph) and dummy speed (15 kph).

Accidentology, simulation and crash test data showed that the windscreen is a frequent head and torso impact location. Accidentology and crash testing showed that cyclist protection should address higher, more rearward locations in the windscreen area than pedestrian countermeasures. Head impact speeds for cyclists in testing were generally higher than for pedestrians.

Keywords: Accidentology, Cyclist and pedestrian kinematics, Cyclist impact simulations, Polar II crash testing, Vulnerable road user protection

Links

URL: http://www.ircobi.org/downloads/irc12/pdf_files/85.pdf

Cited Works (11)

Year	Entry
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2009	Kerrigan J, Arregui C, Crandall J. Pedestrian head impact dynamics: comparison of dummy and PMHS in small sedan and large SUV impacts. In: Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 15-18, 2009; Stuttgart, Germany.
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2005	Kerrigan J, Kam C, Drinkwater C, Murphy D, Bose D, Ivarsson J, Crandall J. Kinematic comparison of the Polar-II and PMHS in pedestrian impact tests with a sport-utility vehicle. In: Proceedings of the 2005 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 21-23, 2005; Prague, Czech Republic.159-174.
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Cited By (7)

Year	Entry
2012	Fredriksson R, Bylund P-O, Öman M. Fatal vehicle-to-bicyclist crashes in Sweden: an in-depth study of injuries and vehicle sources. In: 56th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 14-17, 2012; Seattle, WA.25-30.
2015	Fredriksson R, Ranjbar A, Rosén E. Integrated bicyclist protection systems: potential of head injury reduction combining passive and active protection systems. In: Proceedings of the 24th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 8-11, 2015; Gothenburg, Sweden.
2017	Zander O, Hamacher M. Revision of passive pedestrian test and assessment procedures to implement head protection of cyclists. In: Proceedings of the 25th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 5-8, 2017; Detroit, MI.
2014	Ito D, Yamada H, Oida K, Mizuno K. Finite element analysis of kinematic behavior of cyclist and performance of cyclist helmet for human head injury in vehicle‐to‐cyclist collision. In: Proceedings of the 2014 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 10-12, 2014; Berlin, Germany.119-131.
2014	Bourdet N, Luttenberger P, Teibinger A, Mayer C, Willinger R. Pedestrian and bicyclists head impact conditions against small electric vehicle. In: Proceedings of the 2014 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 10-12, 2014; Berlin, Germany.685-696.
2017	Han Y, Li Q, He W, Wan F, Wang B, Mizuno K. Analysis of vulnerable road user kinematics before/during/after vehicle collisions based on video records. In: Proceedings of the 2017 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 13-15, 2017; Antwerp, Belgium.151-165.
2023	Gildea K. A Biomechanical Analysis of Cyclist Collisions in Ireland [PhD thesis]. Trinity College Dublin; March 2023.