Motorcoach Safety Research \u2013 Interior Impacts and Compartmentalization

NHTSA-Vehicle Safety Research2021PDFTech ReportDuffy, StevePrasad, AlokeUnited States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Vehicle Research and Test CenterUnited States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationUnited StatesMotor vehiclesImpactVehicle compartmentsCrashesCrash injury researchCrash victim simulationHeadCrashworthinessSeatsBusesMotorcoachDOT HS 813 146Final reportIn response to the MAP-21 Reauthorization Act of 2012 and research of crashworthiness features of motorcoaches, NHTSA initiated research of occupant protection in motorcoaches. This report describes technologies that may enhance that protection from two perspectives \u2013 interior head impact protection from padding and the compartmentalization safety concept from enhanced seat designs. To evaluate head injury in a crash, free-motion headform impact tests were performed on motorcoach seats and to the interior surfaces of motorcoaches. The results showed that the seats and bus interiors can produce high head injury criterion (HIC) responses. Padding types could reduce baseline HIC values by 50 to 85 percent. Sled tests conducted on seats with lap-shoulder belts showed that test dummies were contained in their seating compartment during the impact and rebound phases for every test condition, and all seat attachments remained intact. A comparison of dummy kinematics between the physical sled tests and computer simulations showed very good agreement.119