Citation

Croft AC, Haneline MT, Freeman MD. Proc. IRCOBI 2002; 30.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, International Research Council on Biomechanics of Injury)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Numerous factors are believed to influence the risk for injury to the cervical spine in low speed automobile crashes. These include occupant stature, gender, position, age, pre-existing health status, and awareness of impending crash. Factors extrinsic to the occupant that are thought to influence the risk for injury include seat back characteristics, head restraint geometry, type of restraint system used, crash speed, relative vehicle mass, and the direction of impact. Several studies have indicated that rear impact crashes are associated with greater risk for injury and, in some cases, a worse prognosis. Epidemiological studies have identified many risk factors, but the retrospective study design and wide ranging variables of real life crash scenarios has not allowed careful comparison of specific variables. We sought to answer the question concerning the possible reasons for the disparity in risk between front vector crashes and rear vector crashes using human subject crash testing.