Crash performance and occupant safety in passenger cars involved in side impacts

Fildes, B. N.; Vulcan, A. P.

Affiliations

¹Monash University Accident Research Centre, Clayton, Victoria, 3168, Australia

Abstract

A study was undertaken recently for the Federal Office of Road Safety in Australia examining occupant safety for passengers of current generation automobiles. Mass crash data was analysed and a follow-up investigation of 150 vehicle crashes was undertaken where at least one of the vehicle's occupants was hospitalised. Side impact crashes were of particular interest here. The types of injuries sustained by these occupants (including points of contact within the vehicle) were assessed to provide direction for future improvements in occupant protection. Seat belt performance in all seating positions was also of interest. While the limited number of cases did not permit a full and detailed statistical analysis of these data, the findings neverthe-less show there is scope for improving occupant protection for drivers and passengers of modern passenger cars involved in side impact collisions.

Cited Works (4)

Year	Entry
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1990	Fildes BN, Vulcan AP, Lenard J. Occupant safety in modern passenger cars. In: 34th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 1-3, 1990; Scottsdale, AZ.227-251.
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Cited By (10)

Year	Entry
1991	Fildes BN, Lane JC, Lenard J, Vulcan AP. Passenger Cars and Occupant Injury. Monash University Accident Research Centre, Cr95. Canberra, Australia: Federal Office of Road Safety; March 1991. Report No. CR95.
1994	Fildes BN, Lane JC, Lenard J, Vulcan AP. Passenger Cars and Occupant Injury: Side Impact Crashes. Canberra, Australia: Federal Office of Road Safety; April 1994. Report No. CR 134.
1990	Fildes BN, Vulcan AP, Lenard J. Occupant safety in modern passenger cars. In: 34th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 1-3, 1990; Scottsdale, AZ.227-251.
1999	Augenstein J, Perdeck E, Bowen J, Stratton J, Singer M, Horton T, Rao A, Digges K, Malliaris A, Steps J. Injuries in near-side collisions. In: 43rd Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). September 20-21, 1999; Barcelon, Spain.139-158.
1996	McIntosh AS, Svensson NL, Kallieris D, Mattern R, Krabbel G, Ikels K. Head impact tolerance in side impacts. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 13-16, 1996; Melbourne, Australia.1273-1280.
1993	Morris A, Hassan A, Mackay M, Hill J. Head injuries in lateral impact collisions. In: Proceedings of the 1993 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 8-10, 1993; Eindhoven, The Netherlands.41-55.
1995	Hassan AM, Morris AP, Mackay M, Haland Y. Injury severity in side impacts: implications for side impact airbag. In: Proceedings of the 1995 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 13-15, 1995; Brunnen, Switzerland.353-364.
1997	Morris AP, Hassan AM, Mackay M. Chest injuries in real-world side impact crashes: an overview. In: Proceedings of the 1997 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 24-26, 1997; Hannover, Germany.165-178.
2001	Fay PA, Sferco R, Frampton R. Multiple impact crashes consequences for occupant protection measures. In: Proceedings of the 2001 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. October 10-12, 2001; Isle of Man, UK.
2000	Augenstein J, Bowen J, Perdeck E, Singer M, Stratton J, Horton T, Rao A, Digges K, Malliaris A, Steps J. Injury patterns in near-side collisions. In: Proceedings of the SAE World Congress. March 6-9, 2000; Detroit, MI. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers. SAE 2000-01-0634.