Characterizing booster seat children response in reclined seating configuration during lateral oblique pre-crash maneuver

Burns, John; Griffith, Madeline; Seacrist, Thomas; Graci, Valentina

Affiliations

¹Center for Injury Research and Prevention, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

²School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania

³School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University

Abstract

The rise of autonomous vehicles may lead to alternative seating options, including more reclined positions. Belt-positioning booster seats (BPBs) were found to prevent submarining in reclined children when exposed to frontal impacts, but it is unclear if that is the case for lateral-oblique impacts and how pre-crash motion influences the position of reclined children during lateraloblique impacts. In this study, we examined the effects of BPB type and seatback recline angle on children’s responses during a low-acceleration lateral-oblique impact. Five children (6-8 y.o.) seated in two different BPBs with three different seatback recline angles (25°, 45°, and 60°) were exposed to a sled-simulated low-acceleration lateral-oblique pulse (2 g). Human kinematics were recorded with a 10-camera 3D motion-capture system. Seatbelt peak forces were collected with three seatbelt load cells. Lateral and forward peak head and trunk displacements, knee-head forward distance, and seatbelt peak loads (shoulder, left lap, and right lap) were examined. Results showed that lateral peak head and trunk displacement decreased as the seatback recline angle increased (head, 25°: 268 ± 20 mm, 45°: 248 ± 12 mm, 60°: 205 ± 9 mm, p<0.002; trunk, 25°: 154 ± 19 mm, 45°: 133 ± 16 mm, 60°: 106 ± 11 mm, p<0.001). Shoulder belt peak load also decreased as seatback recline angle increased (25°: 93 ± 6 N, 45°: 65 ± 8 N, 60°: 48 ± 13 N, p<0.001). Video analyses confirm that the lap belt did not travel up and over the pelvis. There were no statistically significant differences in forward peak head and trunk displacement, although a trend was observed in which forward peak head displacement slightly increased as recline angle increased (25°: 48 ± 19 mm, 45°: 57 ± 25 mm, 60°: 72 ± 25 mm, p>0.07). These results suggest that submarining did not occur in reclined configurations combined with the use of a low-back BPB. The severe reclined configurations with a BPB may reduce out-of-position posture in lateraloblique pre-crash maneuvers.

Links

URL: https://ibrc.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/burns-2022-IBS-v1.pdf

Cited Works (8)

Year	Entry
2010	Klinich KD, Reed MP, Manary MA, Orton NR. Development and testing of a more realistic pelvis for the Hybrid III 6-year-old ATD. Traffic Inj Prev. 2010;11(6):606-612.
2018	Visvikis C, Carrol J, Pitcher M, Waagmeester K. Assessing lap belt path and submarining risk in booster seats: abdominal pressure twin sensors vs. anterior‐superior iliac spine load cells. In: Proceedings of the 2018 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 12-14, 2018; Athens, Greece.655-668.
2011	Beck B, Brown J, Bilston LE. Variations in rear seat cushion properties and the effects on submarining. Traffic Inj Prev. February 2011;12(1):54-61.
2015	Mathews EA. Pediatric and Young Adult Biomechanical Response to Far-Side Oblique and Lateral Low-Speed Impacts [PhD thesis]. Philadelphia, PA: Drexel University; April 2015.
2012	Arbogast KB, Mathews EA, Seacrist T, Maltese MR, Hammond R, Balasubramanian S, Kent RW, Tanji H, St. Lawrence S, Higuchi K. The effect of pretensioning and age on torso rollout in restrained human volunteers in far-side lateral and oblique loading. Stapp Car Crash J. October 2012;56:443-467.
2017	Jorlöv S, Bohman K, Larsson A. Seating positions and activities in highly automated cars: a qualitative study of future automated driving scenarios. In: Proceedings of the 2017 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 13-15, 2017; Antwerp, Belgium.13-22.
2009	Arbogast KB, Balasubramanian S, Seacrist T, Maltese MR, García-España JF, Hopely T, Constans E, Lopez-Valdes FJ, Kent RW, Tanji H, Higuchi K. Comparison of kinematic responses of the head and spine for children and adults in low-speed frontal sled tests. Stapp Car Crash J. 2009;53:329-372. SAE 2009-22-0012.
2019	Östling M, Larsson A. Occupant activities and sitting positions in automated vehicles in China and Sweden. In: Proceedings of the 26th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 10-13, 2019; Eindhoven, Netherlands.