INJURY PATTERNS AND EFFECTIVE COUNTERMEASURES FOR VEHICLE COLLISION COMPATIBILITY

This paper examines the NASS-CDS statistics to identify the significant parameters associated with injuries in LTV to car frontal collisions. These parameters of interest are the ∆V of the colliding vehicles, the direction of impact as well as any under-ride of the smaller vehicle. It is observed that the cumulative ∆V curve of car occupants in frontal tow-away collisions with LTVs becomes asymptotic at 30 miles per hour and that over 97 % of those car occupants are in cars with a ∆V of 35 mph or less. The relationship of injuries with the reported under-ride in the NASS database is more complex and in several ∆V ranges, the presence of under-ride is related to a lower risk of injuries. Based on these findings, evaluations of compatibility improvement are conducted for frontal impact between an LTV and a small car at approximate ∆V of 35 mph and intrusion levels are calculated for the struck car. It is concluded from the data presented here that lowering the height of LTVs to increase the vertical overlap with a smaller vehicle may, in many cases, increase the intrusion levels in the smaller vehicle as well as increase the crash energy in the smaller vehicle. The addition of a secondary structure to LTVs for the purpose of increasing structural interaction is also investigated and it is shown that the effect of this in the studied cases is to reduce the calculated intrusion in the smaller vehicle