With continuously efforts of improving vehicle safety adopting the emerging new technologies, reduction of traffic fatality has been dramatically improved. Also the rule making bodies in globally have been contributed significantly to protect vehicle occupants and pedestrians with global harmonization activities more enhanced safety regulations and requirements.

However, until recent a few years, the protections of vulnerable vehicle occupants, such as elderly drivers or passengers were not focused in the main stream of vehicle safety issues.

In globally, most of developed countries are either aged or aging societies. The fatality of elderly occupants (65 years old or more) rapidly increased in Korea. In 2010, while the fatality rate (per 1,000 accidents) for all age group was 24.3 deaths, but elderly vehicle occupant fatality ratio was 43.3. The major sources of elderly occupant fatality were come from the thoracic injuries.

In this paper, the average size of Korean elderly morphemic figure was investigated and developed the Koran elderly anthropometric models to assess kinematics of occupants and injury mechanism. Based on the existing injury risk curves, the injury risk curves of Korean elderly occupant and Korean elderly version of Hybrid III were developed. With scale methods, their injury risks were converted to the standard Hybrid III injury measurements.

With the developed injury risk curves, the probability of AIS 3+ injury of 50%, 20%, and 5% for 45 years old adult male (50th percentile) case, the rib deflections are 91.6mm, 73.28mm and 50.38 mm, respectively. For the Korean elderly case, the rib deflections are 77mm, 59.4mm and 37.4 mm, respectively. As the results, the current Hybrid III structure especially thoracic body is not good enough to assess the elderly thoracic injury.

The other additional requirements, such as limiting seat belt forces were recommended. The main sources of fatality or sever injury for elderly in vehicle occupants are from thoracic injuries due to aging effects of rib cage structures. Since the current Hybrid III's thoracic structure are stiffer than a human body, the more stringent rib deflection injury criteria may result the higher belt loading to the elderly rib cage.