All methods used to determine the biomechanical tolerance levels of humans exposed to shock loads are hampered by the fact that it is not possible to simulate human reactions. The only possibility of investigating the real load of car occupants in the injury threshold range consists in the reconstruction of suitable road accidents.

This method, which has been reported by other authors, is also applied at Battelle-Institut e.V., Frankfurt (Main). After assessing the damage to parts in the interior of the vehicle and the injuries to the occupants, the damage is simulated in the laboratory. Subsequently, the loads which have caused the injuries are measured in dynamic and static experiments. After definition of the threshold levels, injuries (e.g. to head, shoulder, knees) and loads are then correlated.

The first results have shown that this method yields statistically significant tolerance levels, provided that a sufficient number of cases is investigated. In addition, it is possible to check data determined by other methods.