91 Fahrzeugkonstruktion
Seit Anfang der 70er Jahre kann im Bereich der passiven Sicherheit eine stetige Verbesserung durch die Abnahme der im Verkehr verletzten und getöteten Personen beobachtet werden. Weitere fahrzeugtechnische Optimierungen zur Verbesserung von Selbst- und Partnerschutz, unterstützt und forciert durch flankierende legislative Maßnahmen, sind durchzuführen, wobei parallel die Effizienz bereits getroffener Maßnahmen zu prüfen ist. In der Pilotstudie wird der Versuch gemacht, ausgehend von bekannten Erkenntnissen der Unfallanalyse, das Gesamtunfallgeschehen Pkw zu realitätsbezogenen, in ihren Wirkungsmechanismen gleichartigen Unfallkonstellationen zusammenzufassen. Die Reduzierung auf wenige Kollisionstypen schafft die Möglichkeit zur Erarbeitung von Testbedingungen. Die im Test nachzufahrenden Unfallkonstellationen und die statisch/dynamische Untersuchung einzelner Fahrzeugkomponenten dokumentieren sich in physikalischen Messwerten und fahrzeugbezogenen Größen. Ein Bewertungssystem addiert die Messwerte auf und versieht sie mit relevanzproportionalen Wichtungsfaktoren zu einem Sicherheitsgrad. Praktische Bedeutung hat das Projekt zum Beispiel für die quantitative Ermittlung des Sicherheitsfortschrittes innerhalb eines Zeitraumes von 10 bis 15 Jahren, der Untersuchung von Sicherheitskomponenten und der Effizienzüberprüfung legislativer Sicherheitsverordnungen etc.
This study aimed at developing an injury estimation algorithm for AACN technologies for Germany and compared them to findings based on Japanese data. The data to build and to verify the algorithm was obtained from the German in-depth Accident Database (GIDAS) and split into a training and a validation dataset. Significant input variables and the generalized linear regression model to predict severe injuries (ISS>15) were selected to maximize area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Probit regression with the input parameter multiple impact, delta v, seatbelt use and impact direction gave the largest AUC of 0.91. Sensitivity of the algorithm was validated at 90% and specificity at 76% for an injury risk threshold of 2%. It appears that no major differences between Japan and Germany exist for injury estimation based on delta v and impact direction. However, far side impact and multiple crash events appear to be associated with a larger risk increase in the German data.
The paper gives an overview of the recent (mostly 2012) figures of killed bus/coach occupants (drivers and passengers) in 27 Member States of the European Union as reported by CARE. The Evolution of the figures of bus/coach occupants killed in road accidents urban, rural without motorway and on motorways from 1991 to 2010 in 15 Member States of the EU supplements this information. More detailed are the figures reported for Germany by the Federal Statistics. The paper displays long-term evaluations (1957 to 2012) for killed, seriously and slightly injured occupants in all kinds of buses/coaches. Midterm evaluations (1995 to 2012) of the figures of fatalities and casualties are displayed for different busses according to their identification of road using as coaches, urban buses, school buses, trolley buses and "other buses". To be able to compare the evolutions of the safety of vehicle occupants it is customary to use different risk indicators. Calculations and illustrations for three often used indicators with their development over time are given: fatalities, seriously injured and slightly injured per 100,000 vehicles registered, per 1 billion (109) vehicle-kilometres travelled and per 1 billion (109) person-kilometres. These indicators are shown for occupants of cars, goods vehicles and buses/coaches. For the period from 1957 until 2012 it is obvious, that for all three vehicle categories analysed there was a clear long-term trend towards more occupant safety in terms of casualties per vehicles registered and per vehicle mileage. This was most significant for car occupants but it can be seen for bus/coach occupants and goodsvehicle occupants as well. Figures of killed occupants and of casualties related to person-kilometres are calculated and displayed for the shorter period 1995 to 2012. Here it becomes obvious that the bus/coach is still the safest mode of transport for the occupants of road vehicles. Graphs for the casualty risk indices still show significantly higher risks for car occupants despite the corresponding curve moved sustainable downwards. It is remarkable, that the risks of being killed or injured for the occupants of urban buses is growing whereas the corresponding risk for the occupants of coaches in line traffic tends downwards. The article ends with a short comparison and discussion of the risk indicators which are actually published for the occupants (driver and passengers) of cars and the passengers of buses/coaches, railroads, trams and airplanes. The interpretation of such information depends on the perception and it seems that for a complete view not only one indicator should be used and the evolutions of the indicator values during longer periods (as displayed with examples in the paper) should also be taken into account.
In 2014 the sixth ESAR conference (Expert Symposium on Accident Research) was held in Hannover. ESAR is an international convention of experts, who analyze traffic accidents all over the world and discuss their results in this context, conducted at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover every 2 years. It connected representatives of public authorities, engineers in automotive development and scientists and offers a forum with particular emphasis on In-Depth-Analyses of accident statistics and accident analyses. Special focus is placed on research on the basis of so-called "In-Depth-Accident-Investigations" [data collections at the sites of the accidents], which are characterized by extensive documentations of the sites of the accidents, of the vehicles as well as of the injuries, encompassing several scientific fields. ESAR aims at a multi-disciplinary compilation of scientific results and at discussing them on an international, scientific level. It is thus a scientific colloquium and a platform for exchanging information for all accident researchers. Experiences in accident prevention as well as in the complex field of accident reconstruction are stated and new research fields are added. Existing results of long-term research work in Europe, the US, Australia and Japan include different infrastructural correlations and give findings on population, vehicle population and driver characteristics, which offer a basis for recommendations to be derived and measures for increasing road safety.
Erkenntnisse über den Nutzen zusätzlicher hochgesetzter Bremsleuchten sind lückenhaft und zum Teil widersprüchlich. Im Rahmen einer Untersuchung über den Einfluss zusätzlicher Bremsleuchten auf das Unfallgeschehen wurden u.a. folgende Fragen behandelt: 1. Entwicklung der Unfälle durch Auffahren auf Fahrzeuge, die mit zusätzlichen Bremsleuchten ausgerüstet sind, 2. Entwicklung der Auffahrunfälle insgesamt, 3. Verletzungen von Fahrzeuginsassen durch Leuchten, 4. Auswirkungen auf die übrigen Verkehrsteilnehmer (Abstand, Blendung, Fehlreaktion). Anhand konkreter Daten über das Unfallgeschehen in Bayern und Niedersachsen kommt der Beitrag insgesamt zu dem Urteil, dass die derzeitige Regelung weder durch eine Einbauvorschrift noch durch ein Einbauverbot hochgesetzter Bremsleuchten ersetzt werden müsste.
In der Europäischen Gemeinschaft werden derzeit jährlich ca. 50.000 Menschen bei Verkehrsunfällen getötet, ca. 10.000 davon als Fußgänger. Von den 10.600 (1992) in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland bei Straßenverkehrsunfällen Getöteten waren 1.800 Fußgänger (etwa 17 Prozent). Problemgruppen bei Fußgängerunfällen bilden die Kinder wegen ihrer hohen Unfallhäufigkeit und alte Personen wegen ihrer hohen Unfallschwere. Kopfverletzungen sind die häufigste Todesursache bei Fußgängerunfällen. Eine Verringerung der Unfallschwere kann - außer durch Verminderung von Fahr- beziehungsweise Aufprallgeschwindigkeiten der Fahrzeuge - nur durch konstruktive Eingriffe an der vorderen Fahrzeugaußenkontur oder dem Unterbau von Pkw erfolgen. Dazu ist es notwendig, einheitliche Prüfverfahren für die Beurteilung der "Fahrzeugaggressivität" gegenüber Fußgängern bereitzustellen. Die Ableitung eines Prüfvorschlages zur Simulation des Kopfaufpralls auf Fronthauben von Pkw beim Fußgängerunfall, unterteilt in Kopfaufpralltests für Erwachsene und Kinder, ist Gegenstand dieser Arbeit. Es werden, ausgehend von einer Analyse der Unfallstatistik, der Entstehungsmechanismus von Kopfverletzungen erklärt, die für ein Prüfverfahren notwendigen Eingangsparameter (Masse, Geschwindigkeit, Aufprallstellen am Fahrzeug etc.) abgeleitet und die Ergebnisse der gewählten Prüfkörpertestmethode mit Ergebnissen von Leichenversuchen verglichen. Eine Kosten-/Nutzen-Betrachtung am Schluss der Arbeit zeigt, dass sich bei nur geringen Kosten ein volkswirtschaftlicher Nutzen durch eine allgemeine Anwendung des Prüfverfahrens mit ca. 270 Millionen DM allein in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland pro Jahr erzielen ließe.
Um die Verletztenschwere von ungeschützten Verkehrsteilnehmern bei der Kollision mit Personenkraftwagen zu reduzieren, sollte die Fahrzeugfront bestimmten Anforderungen entsprechen. Dazu wurde von der EEVC-WG 10 ein Testverfahren zur Prüfung der Pkw-Frontfläche vorgeschlagen. In dieser Untersuchung wurde der Nutzen an vermeidbaren Personenschäden geschätzt, der erzielt werden könnte, wenn alle Pkw diese Anforderungen erfüllten. Als Nutzen wurde das Reduktionspotential bei Getöteten, der mögliche Übergang von Schwerverletzten zu Leichtverletzten und von Leichtverletzten zu Unverletzten bewertet. Verletzungsminderungen innerhalb der Gesamtheit der Schwerverletzten konnten nicht bewertet werden. Auch die hohe Dunkelziffer der Verletzten ging nicht in die Rechnung ein. Daraus ergibt sich, dass der errechnete Nutzen eine Mindestgröße darstellt. Diese Größe wird stark beeinflusst von einer gegebenen Verteilung der Pkw-Kollisionsgeschwindigkeiten, denn ein Nutzenpotential des EEVC-WG-10-Testverfahrens kann nur für Kollisionsgeschwindigkeiten bis 40 km/h angenommen werden. Um mit einer verlässlichen Datenbasis zu arbeiten, wurde diese Untersuchung zunächst für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Gebietsstand vor dem 3. Oktober 1990) und das Jahr 1990 durchgeführt. Dafür errechnete sich ein Nutzenpotential pro neuzugelassenem Pkw in Höhe von 46 bis 63 DM (22 bis 31 ECU) nach deutschen Unfallkostensätzen oder 28 bis 36 ECU nach europäischen Durchschnittskostensätzen. Wirtschaftlich ist die Maßnahme, solange die Kosten pro neu zugelassenem Pkw (zum Preisstand 1990) diesen Betrag nicht übersteigen. Von diesem Ergebnis ausgehend, wurde dessen zeitliche und regionale Übertragbarkeit erörtert. Es ist wahrscheinlich, dass das Ergebnis für ganz Deutschland gilt, da die Maßnahme nicht vor dem Jahr 2000 eingeführt wird und die Vollausrüstung aller Pkw mit dem geforderten Fußgängerschutz erst 10 Jahre später erreicht ist. Aus Prognosen bis zum Jahre 2010 für die Entwicklung der Bevölkerungszahl (gleichbleibender Fußgängeranteil vorausgesetzt) und der Zahl der Pkw-Neuzulassungen lässt sich keine Änderung des Nutzenpotentials herleiten. Weil für andere EG-Länder die Verteilung der Kollisionsgeschwindigkeiten bei Fußgängerunfällen unbekannt ist, können die Wirksamkeitsannahmen dieser Untersuchung nicht auf andere Länder übertragen werden.
The European Enhanced Vehicle-safety Committee wants to promote the use of more biofidelic child dummies and biomechanical based tolerance limits in regulatory and consumer testing. This study has investigated the feasibility and potential impact of Q-dummies and new injury criteria for child restraint system assessment in frontal impact. European accident statistics have been reviewed for all ECE-R44 CRS groups. For frontal impact, injury measures are recommended for the head, neck, chest and abdomen. Priority of body segment protection depends on the ECE-R44 group. The Q-dummy family is able to reflect these injuries, because of its biofidelity performance and measurement capabilities for these body segments. Currently, the Q0, Q1, Q1.5, Q3 and Q6 are available representing children of 0, 1, 1.5, 3 and 6 years old. These Q-dummies cover almost all dummy weight groups as defined in ECE-R44. Q10, representing a 10 year-old child, is under development. New child dummy injury criteria are under discussion in EEVC WG12. Therefore, the ECE-R44 criteria are assessed by comparing the existing P-dummies and new Q-dummies in ECE-R44 frontal impact sled tests. In total 300 tests covering 30 CRSs of almost all existing child seat categories are performed by 11 European organizations. From this benchmark study, it is concluded that the performance of the Q-dummy family is good with respect to repeatability of the measurement signals and the durability of the dummies. Applying ECE-R44 criteria, the first impression is that results for P- and Q-dummy are similar. For child seat evaluation the potential merits of the Q-dummy family lie in the extra measurement possibilities of these dummies and in the more biofidelic response.
The head impact of pedestrians in the windscreen area shows a high relevance in real-world accidents. Nevertheless, there are neither biomechanical limits nor elaborated testing procedures available. Furthermore, the development of deployable protection systems like pop-up bonnets or external airbags has made faster progress than the corresponding testing methods. New requirements which are currently not considered are taken into account within a research project of BASt and the EC funded APROSYS (Advanced PROtection SYStems) integrated project relating to passive pedestrian protection. Testing procedures for head impact in the windscreen area should address these new boundary conditions. The presented modular procedure combines the advantages of virtual testing, including full-scale multi-body and finite element simulations, as well as hardware testing containing impactor tests based on the existing procedures of EEVC WG 17. To meet the efforts of harmonization in legislation, it refers to the Global Technical Regulation of UNECE (GTR No. 9). The basis for this combined hardware and virtual testing procedure is a robust categorization covering all passenger cars and light commercial vehicles and defining the testing zone including the related kinematics. The virtual testing part supports also the choice of the impact points for the hardware test and determines head impact timing for testing deployable systems. The assessment of the neck rotation angle and sharp edge contact in the rear gap of pop-up bonnets is included. For the demonstration of this procedure, a hardware sedan shaped vehicle was modified by integrating an airbag system. In addition, tests with the Honda Polar-II Dummy were performed for an evaluation of the new testing procedure. Comparing these results, it was concluded that a combination of simulation and updated subsystem tests forms an important step towards enhanced future pedestrian safety systems considering the windscreen area and the deployable systems.
A series of drop tests and vehicle tests with the adult head impactor according to Regulation (EC) 631/2009 and drop tests with the phantom head impactor according to UN Regulation No. 43 have been carried out by the German Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (BMVBS). Aim of the test series was to study the injury risk for vulnerable road users, especially pedestrians, in case of being impacted by a motor vehicle in a way described within the European Regulations (EC) 78/2009 and (EC) 631/2009. Furthermore, the applicability of the phantom head drop test described in UN Regulation No. 43 for plastic glazing should be investigated. In total, 30 drop tests, thereof 18 with the adult head impactor and 12 with the phantom head impactor, and 49 vehicle tests with the adult head impactor were carried out on panes of laminated safety glass (VSG), polycarbonate (PC) and laminated polycarbonate (L-PC). The influence of parameters such as the particular material properties, test point locations, fixations, ambient conditions (temperature and impact angle) was investigated in detail. In general, higher values of the Head Injury Criterion (HIC) were observed in tests on polycarbonate glazing. As the HIC is the current criterion for the assessment of head injury risk, polycarbonate glazing has to be seen as more injurious in terms of vulnerable road user protection. In addition, the significantly higher rebound of the head observed in tests with polycarbonate glazing is suspected to lead to higher neck loads and may also cause higher injury risks in secondary impacts of vulnerable road users. However, as in all tests with PC glazing no damage of the panes was observed, the risk of skin cut injuries may be expected to be reduced significantly. The performed test series give no indication for the test procedure prescribed in UN Regulation No. 43 as a methodology to approve glass windscreen not being feasible for polycarbonate glazing, as all PC panes tested fulfilled the UN R 43 requirements. The performance of the windscreen area will not be relevant for vehicle type approval according to the upcoming UN Regulation for pedestrian protection. However, it is recommended that pedestrian protection being considered for plastic windscreens to ensure at least the same level of protection as glass windscreens.
The misuse of CRS (child restraint system) is one of the most urgent problems in connection of child safety in cars. Numerous field studies show that more than two thirds of all CRS are used in a wrong way. This misuse could lead to serious injuries for the children. Surprisingly the quality of CRS use is coded much better in accident data (e.g. GIDAS) than the results of observatory field studies show. It is expected that misuse of CRS was not detected by the accident teams in a large number of the cases. An essential part in improving child seats and their usability is the knowledge of the relation between misuse and resulting injuries. For that the analysis and experimental reconstruction of accidents is an important part. For allowing an exact experimental accident reconstruction, it is necessary to have detailed information about the securing situation of the child and about the installation of the CRS in the car.
In 2012 the fifth ESAR conference (Expert Symposium on Accident Research) was held in Hannover. ESAR is an international convention of experts, who analyze traffic accidents all over the world and discuss their results in this context, conducted at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover every 2 years. It connected representatives of public authorities, engineers in automotive development and scientists and offers a forum with particular emphasis on In-Depth-Analyses of accident statistics and accident analyses. Special focus is placed on research on the basis of so-called "In-Depth-Accident-Investigations" [data collections at the sites of the accidents], which are characterized by extensive documentations of the sites of the accidents, of the vehicles as well as of the injuries, encompassing several scientific fields. ESAR aims at a multi-disciplinary compilation of scientific results and at discussing them on an international, scientific level. It is thus a scientific colloquium and a platform for exchanging information for all accident researchers. Experiences in accident prevention as well as in the complex field of accident reconstruction are stated and new research fields are added. Existing results of long-term research work in Europe, the US, Australia and Japan include different infrastructural correlations and give findings on population, vehicle population and driver characteristics, which offer a basis for recommendations to be derived and measures for increasing road safety.
This work aims at bringing evidence for mass incompatibility in frontal impact for cars built according to the UNECE R94 regulation. French national injury accidents database census for years 2005 to 2008 were used for the analysis. The heterogeneity of frontal self-protection among cars of different masses is investigated, as well as the partner protection parameter offered by these cars. The last part of the analysis deals with the estimation of the benefit, in terms of fatal and severe injuries avoided, if crashworthiness was harmonized for the whole fleet of vehicle. This calculation is done for France and is extended to all Europe.
In road traffic accidents, a car-seat and its occupant can be subjected to various crash pulses in the case of a rear impact. This study investigates the influence of crash pulse shape on seat-occupant response and evaluates the corresponding risk of whiplash injury. For this purpose, a rigorously validated seat-occupant system model is used to study different carseat designs and crash pulses. Two different car-seat concepts are also presented which can effectively mitigate whiplash injury for a wide range of crash severity. It is shown that for crash pulses of similar severity, the level of whiplash-risk depends strongly on the combined effects of seat design and crash pulse shape.
The share of high-tensile steel in car bodies has increased over the last years. While occupant safety has generally benefited from this measure, there is a potential risk that, as a result, rescue time may increase considerably. In more than 60% of all car occupant fatalities a technical rescue has been necessary. These are in particular those cases where occupants die immediately at the accident scene. Therefore, in these cases "rescue time" is a very sensitive parameter. In addition to the general analysis of the need of technical rescue and the actual rescue time depending on model years, the injury pattern of occupants requiring technical rescue will be analysed to provide advice for rescue teams. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of rescue measures for the most popular car models depending on the safety cell design is given.
The paper presents a methodology for the benefit estimation of several secondary safety systems for pedestrians, using the exceptional data depth of GIDAS. A total of 667 frontal pedestrian accidents up to 40kph and more than 500 AIS2+ injuries have been considered. In addition to the severity, affected body region, exact impact point on the vehicle, and the causing part of every injury, the related Euro NCAP test zone was determined. One results of the study is a detailed impact distribution for AIS2+ injuries across the vehicle front. It can be stated, how often a test zone or vehicle part is hit by pedestrians in frontal accidents and which role the ground impact plays. Basing on that, different secondary safety measures can be evaluated by an injury shift method concerning their real world effectiveness. As an example, measures concerning the Euro NCAP pedestrian rating tests have been evaluated. It was analysed which Euro NCAP test zones are the most effective ones. In addition, real test results have been evaluated. Using the presented methodology, other secondary safety like the active bonnet (pop-up bonnet) or a pedestrian airbag measures can be evaluated.
Females sustain Cervical Spine Distortion injury (CSD) more often than males. Most work dealing with the biomechanics background (e.g. injury mechanism/criteria) as well as the application in seat design/testing, focuses on the occupant model of an average male. Therefore the EU-Project ADSEAT (Adaptive Seat to Reduce Neck Injuries for Female and Male Occupants) is aimed at adding a female model for gender balanced research of CSD and improving seat design. An extensive literature review, searching for risk factors and injury criteria for males and females, was accompanied by the evaluation of different databases containing CSD cases. The database evaluations suggests that an anthropometry quite close to the 50%ile female anthropometry as known from crash test dummy design is appropriate. The results presented here form the basis for the future development of a computational female model and the improvement of seat design for better protection of both males and females in the frame of the ADSEAT-Project.
This study is aimed to investigate the correlations of impact conditions and dynamic responses with the injuries and injury severity of child pedestrians by accident reconstruction. For this purpose, the pedestrian accident cases were selected from Sweden and Germany with detailed information about injuries, accident cars, and accident environment. The selected accident cases were reconstructed using mathematical models of pedestrian and passenger car. The pedestrian models were generated based on the height, weight, and age of the pedestrian involved in accidents. The car models were built up based on the corresponding accident car. The impact speeds in simulations were defined based on the reported data. The calculated physical quantities were analyzed to find the correlation with injury outcomes registered in the accident database. The reconstruction approaches are discussed in terms of data collection, estimating vehicle impact speeds, pedestrian moving speeds and initial posture, secondary ground impact, validity of the mathematical models, as well as impact biomechanics.
This paper set out to examine the possibilities for injury avoidance implications for older drivers in crashes, based on crash and injury patterns among older drivers and current trends in ageing in most western societies. A number of safety technologies were identified and discussed which have potential for improving vehicle older driver crash avoidance and crashworthiness. While there were some promising estimates available of the likely benefits of this technology for improving safety, it is evident that they need to be confirmed for older drivers, given their age-related disabilities and sensory limitations. Further research is urgently required to ensure that these technologies yield safety benefits without any disbenefits for older drivers.rn
Nigeria ranks one of the highest countries in the world with the largest accident, especially when measured by whiplash associated disorders, whereas, traffic safety education rate, data and information been widely known as preventive indicators have been grossly neglected. In Nigeria, traffic safety enlightenment, awareness, political understanding and appreciation of the problem's magnitude are lacking. This study, therefore, seeks to understand and document the fact that accident causation factors in Nigeria relate more to the problem of development, poverty, knowledge and education as evidenced in most other developing countries. Among the primary accident causation factors on Nigerian roads are: - lack of a transportation system or multi-model integration - sub-standard and obsolete vehicles and road furniture - poor road maintenance, investment and engineering management - paucity of road users' and drivers' knowledge, skill, enlightenment and education of the road Use This paper submits that Nigeria being a developing nation requires purely primitive strategies being cost effective (health wise) than curative measures. It is in this light that an enduring, comprehensive and sustainable traffic safety educational programmes information base and data inventory, analysis and implementations form the focus of this study. This effort will provide basic guidelines framework and implementation procedure for a successful prevention of whiplash associated disorder resulting from road traffic crashes in Nigeria and other parts of the world.