The use of crash recorders in studying real life accidents

Kullgren, A.<sup>1</sup>; Lie, A.<sup>2</sup>; Tingvall, C.<sup>3</sup>

The estimation of crash severity, such as the change of velocity (AV), is a fundamental measurement of the exposure to car occupants in crashes. Such estimates are mainly based on reconstructions related to the energy dissipated in the crash, as measured by vehicle deformations. The reliability of such estimates are known to be fairly low, in the region of 20 % accuracy, leading to a possibility in i e evaluating crash protection systems.

A low cost crash recorder for frontal impacts. based on a mass spring system has been developed and mounted in a population of 30,000 cars. In this paper, the experience of the crash recorder is shown in terms of crashes and outcome in real life. The pulses of several crashes are presented as well as the change of velocity. Some typical crashes where a traditional reconstruction would have led to poor estimates are also presented

Year

Entry

1982

Smith RA, Noga JT. Accuracy and sensitivity of CRASH. In: Proceedings of the 26th Stapp Car Crash Conference. October 20-21, 1982; Ann Arbor, MI. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:317-334. SAE 821169.

1991

Kamren B, von Koch M, Kullgren A, Lie A, Nygren A, Tingvall C. Advanced accident data collection: description and potentials of a comprehensive data collection system. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESV). November 4-7, 1991; Paris, France.41-45.

1991

Hobbs CA. The need for improved structural integrity in frontal car impacts. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESV). November 4-7, 1991; Paris, France.1073-1079.

1991

Aldman B, Kullgren A, Lie A, Tingvall C. Crash pulse recorder (CPR): development and evaluation of a low cost device for measuring crash pulse and delta-V in real life accidents. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESV). November 4-7, 1991; Paris, France.188-192.

1993

Kullgren A, Lie A, Tingvall C. Crash pulse recorder (CPR): validation in full scale crash tests. In: Proceedings of the 1993 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 8-10, 1993; Eindhoven, The Netherlands.79-90.