The influence of European air bags on crash injury outcomes

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Lenard, James¹; Frampton, Richard¹; Thomas, Pete¹

The influence of European air bags on crash injury outcomes

Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV)

Affiliations

¹Vehicle Safety Research Centre, Loughborough University, United Kingdom
Abstract

The UK Co-operative Crash Injury Study currently includes data on 205 seat belted drivers from frontal impacts in which an air bag deployed; of these, 142 suffered some degree of injury. To detect the influence of frontal air bags, the distribution of injury over the body regions of these drivers was compared to that of a much larger group from vehicles without air bags. The injured drivers from air bag vehicles showed relatively fewer head injuries, especially fractures, and relatively more arm injuries. No abnormal types of injury or circumstances of injury were identified for the air bag group. Air bags generally appear to deploy at vehicle impact severities that pose a statistical risk of significant head injury, and also in a proportion of lower severity impacts. As a group, the air bag equipped vehicles were larger, more modem, and more often fitted with seat belt pretensioners than the non air bag vehicles, with an older and more male driving population.
Links

URL: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv16/98s5o01.pdf

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Cited By (10)

Year	Entry
2002	Frampton R, Welsh R, Thomas P. Belted driver protection in frontal impact: what has been achieved and where do future priorities lie? In: 46th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). September 30–October 2, 2002; Tempe, AZ.
2004	Frampton R, Williams O, Thomas P. Factors related to serious injury in post-NCAP european cars involved in frontal crashes. In: 48th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). September 13-15, 2004; Key Biscayne, FL.15-33.
2006	Frampton R, Page M, Thomas P. Factors related to fatal injury in frontal crashes involving European cars. In: 50th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 16-18, 2006; Chicago, IL.35-56.
2001	Morris A, Barnes J, Fildes B. The effectiveness of airbags in Australia as determined by in-depth crash injury research. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 4-7, 2001; Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2000	Frampton R, Sferco R, Welsh R, Kirk A, Fay P. Effectiveness of airbag restraints in frontal crashes: what european field studies tell us. In: Proceedings of the 2000 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 20-22, 2000; Montpellier, France.425-438.
2001	Cuerden R, Hill J, Kirk A, Mackay M. The potential effectiveness of adaptive restraints. In: Proceedings of the 2001 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. October 10-12, 2001; Isle of Man, UK.
2002	Kirk A, Frampton R, Thomas P. An evaluation of airbag benefits/disbenefits in european vehicles: a combined statistical and case study approach. In: Proceedings of the 2002 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 18-20, 2002; Munich, Germany.
2005	Hardy R, Watson J, Frampton R, Page M, Zioupos P, Cook R, Kennedy A, Sproston P, Forrester B, Peach S. BOSCOS: development and benefits of a bone scanning system. In: Proceedings of the 2005 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 21-23, 2005; Prague, Czech Republic.367-382.
2008	Welsh R, Reed S, Morris A. AIS 3+ head injury mechanisms and crash characteristics: a review of airbag deployed frontal crashes. In: Proceedings of the 2008 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 17-19, 2008; Bern, Switzerland.17-31.
2020	Baker CE, Martin PS, Wilson M, Ghajari M, Sharp DJ. The effect of delta-V on traumatic brain injury sustained by vehicle occupants in Great Britain. In: Proceedings of the 2020 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. 2020; Munich, Germany.111-112.