Citation

Tarriere C, Fayon A, Hartemann F, Ventre P. Proc. Stapp Car Crash Conf. 1975; 19: 965-993.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1975, Society of Automotive Engineers SAE)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The evaluation of the physical severity of the impacts is one of the cornerstones of Accidentology, Biomechanics and hence of road safety. Assessment of the constraints to which the occupants of crashed vehicles are exposed is still too approximate, despite the fact that this is essential to interpret the progress achieved in the field of safety and to make decisions concerning the future. The methods used to analyze and classify accidents must reside on unquestionable physical basis. This is why Renault and Peugeot have discarded the Equivalent Test Speed method, replacing it by the Speed Variation method ( DELTA V) and, mope recently, analysis based on two parameters, namely the speed variation and the mean deceleration of the undistorted part of the vehicle. Application of these methods to a sample of accidents representative of the French situation is presented and discussed in the light of the severity of the lesions observed.