Despite many previous studies into the "whiplash" phenomenon, including sled tests on volunteers, animals and post mortem test objects as well as in vitro clinical studies, many questions remain unanswered.

The purpose of the work described here is to answer some of the questions by developing a biomechanical 3-dimensional Finite Element (FE) model of the human cervical spine, capable of simulating the whiplash accident situation, and hence making recommendations for improving car safety as well as defining the Mechanism of Injury (Mol).

A 3-dimensional biomechanical model of the head-neck complex has been developed, including the intervertebral discs, the neck ligaments and the muscle structure in addition to the vertebrae themselves. The model has been evaluated data from against experimental volunteer sled tests, successfully predicting the kinematics of the head and cervical spine. The model behaviour confirms the Mol of whiplash being hypertranslation as head, in agreement with recent the of experimental results. It has been clearly shown that biomechanical FE modelling has significant kinds it advantages over other of research, as can indicate the injury in individual actual risk soft tissues.

Furthermore, the final model has been used to investigate not only the sagittal for first but the time, the situation where the car also, plane whiplash scenario, is initially occupant looking to one side. The model is the first research tool investigating this scenario, since other computational investigations, as capable of well as experimental have been approaches, restricted to the facing forward position.

Finally a new approach to car safety research has been indicated by implementing the biomechanical head-neck model onto a Hybrid III dummy model, producing what has been shown to be an original and powerful design tool. This combined model has been successfully used to investigate different factors affecting whiplash injury as well as to design an anti-whiplash protection device.