Belted occupants in oblique and side impacts

Walz, F.; Niederer, P.; Zollinger, U.; Renfer, A.

Affiliations

¹Institute of Forensic Medicine,University of ZURICH, Switzerland

²Institute for Biomedical Engineering ,Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and University of ZURICH , Switzerland

Abstract

On January 1,1976 a law became effective in Switzerland requiring passenger car occupants to be secured by safety belts.At the same time the Swiss Sovernment initiated a one year study on car accidents involving persons who were belted and sustained severe or fatal injuries. 304 accidents with 153 killed and 257 severely injured (OAIS = 2-6) occupants were analysed during this study. Data collection and analysis are based on police reports,hospital docurrentation, photographs and in part on scene investigations,photogramnetric methods and technical examination of the belts.

Frontal crashes with an impact direction of 12 o'clock are the most traumatic ones for belt wearers.Nearly the same traumatisation arises from oblique collisions with 1,2,10 and 11 o'clock impact direction. The latter are analysed in terms of seating position,injury pattern and severity. The same relations are shown also for the 3 and 9 o'clock side impacts.

This paper has to be viewed in connection with other papers published by the same authors.

Cited Works (3)

Year	Entry
1977	Niederer P, Walz F, Zollinger U. Adverse effects of seat belts and causes of belt failures in severe car accidents in Switzerland during 1976. In: Proceedings of the 21st Stapp Car Crash Conference. October 19-21, 1977; New Orleans, LA. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:55-93. SAE 770916.
1967	Bohlin NI. A statistical analysis of 28,000 accident cases with emphasis on occupant restraint value. In: Proceedings of the 11th Stapp Car Crash Conference. October 10-11, 1967; Anaheim, CA. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:455-478. SAE 670925.
1976	Hartemann F, Thomas C, Foret-Bruno JY, Henry C, Fayon A, Tarriere C. Occupant protection in lateral impacts. In: Proceedings of the 20th Stapp Car Crash Conference. October 18-20, 1976; Dearborn, MI. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:191-219. SAE 760806.

Cited By (4)

Year	Entry
1978	Walz FH, Sprenger HJ, Niederer PF. Severely and fatally injured rear seat car passengers (oais ≥ 2) in Switzerland during 1976. In: 22nd Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). July 10-14, 1978; Ann Arbor, MI.129-140.
1977	Niederer P, Walz F, Zollinger U. Reconstruction and analysis of lateral collisions. In: Proceedings of the 1977 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 7-9, 1977; Berlin, Germany.286-296.
1979	Horsch JD, Schneider DC, Kroell CK, Raasch FD. Response of belt restrained subjects in simulated lateral impact. In: Proceedings of the 23rd Stapp Car Crash Conference. October 17-19, 1979; San Diego, CA. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:71-103. SAE 791005.
1980	Horsch JD. Occupant dynamics as a function of impact angle and belt restraint. In: Proceedings of the 24th Stapp Car Crash Conference. October 15-17, 1980; Troy, MI. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:419-438. SAE 801310.