Volume 3: Accident Survivability

Final Report May 1991-October 1992PDFTech ReportDOT-VNTSC-FRA-93-2.IIIDOT/FRA/ORD-93/02.IllRR393/R3015High speed ground transportationCollision avoidance systemsCrashworthinessSurvivalHuman factorsInjuriesVehicle occupantsGuidelinesDesign standardsStructural analysisUnited States. Federal Railroad AdministrationGalganski, Robert A.John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)Arthur D. Little, Inc.Arvin/Calspan CorporationNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-SAFETY AND SECURITYNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Human FactorsVolpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference CenterThis report is the third of four volumes concerned with developing safety guidelines and specifications for high-speedguided ground transportation (HSGGT) collision avoidance and accident survivability. The overall approach taken inthis study is to first formulate collision scenarios to which an HSGGT system may be exposed. Then existing U.S. andforeign rules, regulations, standards and practices concerned with either preventing the occurrence of a collision, ormitigating the consequences of a collision are reviewed, together with pertinent practices from other forms oftransportation, leading to the formulation of guidelines and specifications for collision avoidance and accidentsurvivability.The volume provides a detailed discussion of survivability of HSGGT vehicles and trains. An opening chapter describesthe basic mechanics of collision between vehicles, including the two primary causes of vehicle occupant casualties, lossof occupant space through crushing and penetration, and impacts between occupants and vehicle interiors. Furtherchapters describe measures of human tolerance of impacts and injury criteria, methods of assessing transportationvehicle collision performance and crashworthiness regulations and practices applicable to transportation vehicles of alltypes. The volume concludes with recommendations and guidelines for crashworthiness design and evaluation of HSGGTvehicles and trains to be operated in the United States