Occupant age and size characteristics by seating location in tow-away crashes involving light vehicles in the United States

Parenteau, Chantal S.; Viano, David C.; Campbell, Ian C.

Affiliations

Abstract and keywords

Data from 1989-2015 NASS-CDS and 2017-2019 CISS were analyzed for exposure of drivers, right-front passengers, second-row passengers and third-row passengers by age, height and weight. The data were analyzed by calendar year (CY) ranges for light vehicles in all crashes. The percentile distribution was modelled by a Beta distribution. The weighted sample included 59,290,000 drivers, 15,384,761 right-front, 9,323,559 second-row, and 433,002 third-row passengers.

The average driver was 76.4 kg and 171.6 cm. The average right-front passenger was 67.8 kg and 165.0 cm. Secondrow passengers averaged 45.4 kg and 137.7 cm. The average weight of drivers and right-front passengers increased with time. For example, the average right-front passenger weight was 61.9 kg between 1989 and 1995 and 75.4 kg between 2017 and 2019.

The Beta distribution function is a two-parameter model of distributions. It enables calculation of percentile data on occupants in different seating positions. For example, a 76 kg (± 7.6 kg) driver represents 31.6% of the driver population, and a 102.5 kg (±10.3 kg) driver represents 15.8% of the driver population.

The Beta distribution function provides a simple means to quantify the percentiles of occupants by seating position. It can be used to determine the fraction of occupants covered within a specific range of the height and weight of different crash test dummies.

Keywords: Demographics; height; weight; distribution; occupants

Links

URL: http://www.ircobi.org/wordpress/downloads/irc22/pdf-files/2276.pdf

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