Citation

Michie JD. Transp. Res. Rec. 1981; 796: 1-9.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1981, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A method is presented to evaluate results of vehicle crash tests of highway safety appurtenances in terms of injury risk to the vehicle occupant. The occupant is assumed to be propelled through the vehicle compartment (flail space); to strike the instrument panel, windshield, or side door; and to subsequently ride down the remaining part of the collision event in contact with the vehicle. Injury is assessed in terms of (a) the impact velocity of the occupant and the instrument panel and (b) accelerations of occupant and vehicle that occur during the subsequent ride down. Evolution of present appurtenance safety criteria is reviewed. Dynamic conditions that produce human injury are briefly discussed along with recommended threshold values that will minimize the degree of the injuries. Finally, a typical application of the flail-space model to crash test results is presented.