Head and face injuries to car occupants in accidents: field data 1983-1985

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Bradford, M. A.¹; Otubushin, A.¹; Thomas, P.¹; Robertson, N. K. B.¹; Green, P. D.¹

Head and face injuries to car occupants in accidents: field data 1983-1985

Proceedings of the 1986 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact

Affiliations

¹Accident Research Unit, Institute for Consumer Ergonomics, Loughborough, Leicestershire, U.K.
Abstract

A sample of 1603 car occupants was analysed to report on the frequency, severity and causation of head injuries in car accidents. The majority of the occupants were restrained in the front seats. The importance of head injuries and the type of blows causing head injuries in general was examined. It was found that 65% of fatalities had a head injury of AIS 3 to 6, and in the majority of cases brain injuries occur without skull fracture regardless of survival. It was also found that 64% of head injuries scored above AIS 2 were caused by objects outside the vehicle. Facial injuries were also examined and eye injuries were found to be rare. The steering wheel rim and hub were found to be the most common cause of non-surface facial injuries to drivers, whereas surface facial injuries were attributable to a variety of causes.

Cited Works (8)

Year	Entry
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Cited By (9)

Year	Entry
1994	Yamazaki K, Sonoda N, Sakurai T, Matsui N. A study of impact test procedure for steering wheel to reduce facial injuries. In: Proceedings of the 14th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 23-26, 1994; Munich, Germany.520-527.
1989	Clemo KC, Penoyre S, White MJ. Safer steering wheels to reduce face bone fractures. In: Proceedings of the 12th International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESV). May 29–June 1, 1989; Göteborg, Sweden.275-287.
1989	Thomas P, Bradford M. Side impact regulations: how do they relate to real world accidents? In: Proceedings of the 12th International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESV). May 29–June 1, 1989; Göteborg, Sweden.919-929.
1991	Thomas P, Bradford M, Ward E. The cause of head injuries in real world crashes. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESV). November 4-7, 1991; Paris, France.67-77.
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.
1993	Thomas P, Bradford M. The nature and source of the head injuries sustained by restrained front seat occupants in frontal collisions. In: Proceedings of the 1993 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 8-10, 1993; Eindhoven, The Netherlands.29-40.
1999	Canaple B, Cesari D, Drazetic P. Identification of head injury mechanisms associated with reconstruction of traffic accidents. In: Proceedings of the 1999 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 23-24, 1999; Sitges, Spain.37-51.
2018	Holt C, Douglas E, Graci V, Seacrist T, Kerrigan J, Kent R, Balasubramanian S, Arbogast K. Effect of countermeasures on adult kinematics during pre‐crash evasive swerving. In: Proceedings of the 2018 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 12-14, 2018; Athens, Greece.536-548.
2019	Holt CM. Understanding the Effects of Age and Safety Countermeasures on Occupant Kinematics in Low-Acceleration, Time-Extended Events [PhD thesis]. Drexel University; March 2019.