Sonstige
The improvement of passive car security devices led to a reduction of injuries, especially of the head, the neck and the torso mainly due to the airbag function. The passenger's foot and ankle could not profit from this development. Some investigators even reported a progression of leg injuries (1). In this study, we investigated a current collective of patients with foot and ankle fractures or severe soft tissue injuries in relation with defined crash parameters. Special interest was paid to the car's footwell.
Since its creation in 2011 the Pre-Crash-Matrix (PCM) offers the possibility to observe the pre-crash phase until five seconds before crash for a wide range of accidents. Currently the PCM contains more than 8.000 reconstructed accidents out of the GIDAS (German In-Depth Accident Study) database and is enlarged continuously by more than 1.000 cases per year. Hence, a detailed investigation of active safety systems in real accident situations has been made feasible. The PCM contains all relevant data in database format to simulate the pre-crash phase until the first collision of the accident for a maximum of two participants. This includes the definition of the participants and their characteristics, the dynamic behavior of the participants as time-dependent course for five seconds before crash as well as the geometry of the traffic infrastructure. The digital sketch of the accident and information from GIDAS as well as from supplementary databases represent the main input for the simulation of the pre-crash phase of an accident with the VUFO simulation model VAST (Vufo Accident Simulation Tool). This simulation in turn embodies the foundation of the PCM. The PCM underlies continual improvements and enhancements in consultation with its users. In addition to collisions of cars with other cars, pedestrians, bicycles and motorcycles the PCM now also covers car to object and car to truck collisions. The paper illustrates car to truck collisions as a showcase and explains perspectives for further developments. In 2016 a more detailed definition of the contour of the vehicle was added. Furthermore, the geometrical surroundings of the accident site will be provided in a new structure with a higher level of detail. Thus, a precise classification of road marks and objects is possible to further improve the support of developing and evaluating ADAS. This paper gives an overview about the latest developments of the PCM with its innovations and provides an outlook to upcoming enhancements. Besides potential areas of application for the development of ADAS are shown.
Nowadays airbags are part of the standard equipment in almost all new cars. While airbags are saving an increasing number of people from severe injuries and death in moderate and high speed crashes, they do not completely prevent dashboard injuries. The most common mechanism in dashboard injuries is a posteriorly directed force to the proximal tibia with the knee flexed. This may occur during a motor vehicle frontal impact accident when a knee of the driver or the front-seat passenger strikes the dashboard. The posterior force can be combined with a abducting or rotational force leading to concomitant lateral or posterolateral injury. Car and airbag manufacturers therefore develop special inflatable systems to reduce the impact force in dashboard injuries. Every new inflatable system, however, has to be evaluated in out of position situations in which the system might cause injuries to certain body areas. Therefore, we investigated a new kneebag system in different critical seating positions of post mortem test subjects (PMTS). The tested knee airbag module is a folded airbag (18 litre volume) which is installed below the lower section of the instrument panel of a passenger car. Using four PMTS (2 male, 2 female, age 36"67) the following positions were tested: normal seating position, knee flexed >90 degrees and knee flexed <60 degrees in static deployment tests with direct contact. In addition a dynamic test (48.8kph, AAMA-pulse) was carried out with the PMTS belted in a normal seating position. The inflation phase and the impact of the system on the knee/lower leg were analysed by high speed videos. After the test the lower legs of the PMTS were examined by Xray and autopsy. All soft tissue injuries and bone fractures were recorded. All the tests could be evaluated. Except some superficial skin lesions in the impact area no fracture of the bones around the knee and no knee ligament and tendon injuries were observed. Neither video analysis nor autopsy of the PMTS showed any critical contact injuries caused by the inflation process of the bag. Therefore, it can be concluded that in the tested seating positions which are the most critical for the knee area the knee bag system is safe.
The primary goal of this investigation was to determine the relative risk of traffic accidents in students. In a two year period, a survey amongst 2,325 students was carried out, and 3,645 injuries sustained by students treated at our hospital were analyzed. Moped-riding in adolescents were associated with a 23.75-fold increased risk for injury as compared to biking. Children who ride bicycles have a 2.2-fold increased risk for an injury sustained by traffic accidents compared to pedestrians. None of 50 injured bicycle riders with helmet had an AIS for head injuries of more than 2. 24 of 233 injured bicycle drivers without helmet had an AIS for head injuries of more than 2. The use of a protective helmet significantly reduced the severity of head injuries. The level of awareness towards danger and a history of previous accidents correlate with the likelihood of future accidents. Due to the severity of traffic accidents, more adequate prevention measures (wearing of bicycle helmets and better education for moped riders) are urgently needed.
To date, the Trauma Registry (TraumaRegister DGU-® contains data of approximately 100.000 severely injured patients, 65% of which suffered from a road traffic crash. Thus, it is the world's largest data base for severely injured patients. The article describes the development of the registry and explains how it was rolled out over Germany using the established structure of the German Trauma Network (TraumaNetzwerk DGU-®). In addition, this article presents three typical use cases from the fields of quality management, policy making and system-wide interventions, clinical research and injury prevention. In conclusion, the TraumaRegister DGU-® is a well-established tool for various purposes related to the control and reduction of the burden of road injury. Its ongoing expansion to other countries will support the goal of international benchmarking of hospitals and trauma systems.
Gegenstand der Untersuchung, bei dem die Blutalkoholuntersuchungsbefunde des Instituts für Rechtsmedizin der Universität Bonn aus den Jahren 1997, 1999 und 2003 retrospektiv ausgewertet wurden, war zum einen die Frage nach dem Frauenanteil und der Beteiligung von Alkoholikern an der Trunkenheitsdelinquenz im Straßenverkehr. Zum anderen sollte nachvollzogen werden, inwieweit die im Laborversuch ermittelten Konversionsfaktoren bei der Anwendung in der polizeilichen Praxis bestätigt werden können. In der wissenschaftlichen Diskussion der pharmakokinetischen Grundlagen wurden nach Trinkversuchen unter Laborbedingungen Zweifel an einer ausreichend gesicherten Korrelation zwischen Atem- und Blutalkoholkonzentration geäussert. Die Auswertung von 1.889 Datensätzen mit dem Ziel der Analyse der Zusammenhänge zwischen Blut- und Atemalkoholkonzentration in der Praxis ergab im Vergleich zu einer früheren Studie, dass die Resultate innerhalb enger Grenzen übereinstimmen und sie die Verhältnisse im tatsächlichen polizeilichen Einsatz abbilden. Bei der Geschlechterverteilung ergab sich ein Frauenanteil von 9 Prozent, bei mindestens 7 Prozent der Teilnehmer ist eine Alkoholproblematik zu vermuten.
Relevant accident related factors : risk and frequencies of contributing to road traffic accidents
(2009)
In the course of the European Project TRACE (Traffic Accident Causation in Europe) an attempt was made to analyse the cause of road traffic accidents from a factors' point of view. By literature review the most important independent risk factors for traffic accidents were identified to be speed, alcohol intake, male gender, young age, cell phone use, and fatigue. However, the impact of an accident related factor also depends on its prevalence in traffic and accidents, respectively. Available to the Partners in the TRACE Project were different accident databases. Causally contributing factors found by accident investigations that are most often coded in accident databases are connected to unadapted speed and inattention. Taking into account the risk increase and the frequency of contribution to accidents the conclusion can be drawn that the most relevant factors for accident causation are: "alcohol", "speed", and "inattention and distraction".
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.
In the course of the EUROPEAN PROJECT TRACE all fatally injured pedestrians autopsied at the Institute for Legal Medicine in Munich in 2004 had been analysed by using the "Human Functional Failure (HFF) analysis" method. It was possible to apply this method although some restrictions have to be taken into account. The results derived from this analysis comprise first the failures the pedestrians (most often "impairment of sensorimotor and cognitive abilities") and the opponents (most often " Non-detection in visibility constraints conditions") faced in the accident, second the conflicts and tasks (pedestrian crossing the street conflicting with a vehicle from the side (which was going ahead on a straight road), the degree of accident involvement (pedestrians often the primary active part), and further the contributing factors to the accident (pedestrians most often "alcohol (> 0.05% BAC)", opponents most often "visibility constraints").
Seilverspannte Brücken
(2008)
Der Beitrag behandelt den Entwurf, Besonderheiten der Berechnung und die Bemessung der beiden wichtigsten Bauarten seilverspannter Brücken, der echten Hängebrücke und der Schrägseilbrücke. Bei den Hängebrücken wird zunächst eingegangen auf die geschichtliche Entwicklung, die geprägt ist durch die im Zuge der Verbesserung des Stahls zunehmende Drahtfestigkeit. Anschliessend geht der Bericht ein auf: statisches System, Arten des Ueberbaus, Ausführung der Pylone, Kabel, Hänger und Widerlager. Analog zu den Hängebrücken ist der Beitrag bei den Schrägseilbrücken aufgebaut: geschichtliche Entwicklung, Haupttragwerke, Ueberbau, Pylone und Schrägseile. Hinsichtlich der Besonderheiten der Berechnung werden angesprochen: Anwendung der Theorie II. Ordnung und Betriebsfestigkeitsbeanspruchung. Erläutert wird auch die Montage sowohl der Hängebrücke als auch der Schrägseilbrücke in Wort und Bild.