620 Ingenieurwissenschaften und zugeordnete Tätigkeiten
The use of proper child restraint systems (CRS) is mandatory for children travelling in cars in most countries of the world. The analysis of the quantity of restrained children shows that more than 90% of the children in Germany are restrained. Looking at the quality of the protection, a large discrepancy between restrained and well protected children can be seen. Two out of three children in Germany are not properly restrained. In addition, considerable difference exists with respect to the technical performance of CRS. For that reason investigations and optimisations on two different topics are necessary: The technical improvement of CRS and the ease of use of CRS. Consideration of the knowledge gained by the comparison of different CRS in crash tests would lead to some improvements of the CRS. But improvement of child safety is not only a technical issue. People should use CRS in the correct way. Misuse and incorrect handling could lead to less safety than correct usage of a poor CRS. For that reason new technical issues are necessary to improve the child safety AND the ease of use. Only the combination of both parts can significantly increase child safety. For the assessment of the safety level of common CRS, frontal and lateral sled tests simulating different severity levels were conducted comparing pairs of CRS which were felt to be good and CRS which were felt to be poor. The safety of some CRS is currently at a high level. All well known products were not damaged in the performed tests. The performance of non-branded CRS was mostly worse than that of the well known products. Although the branded child restraint systems already show a high safety level it is still possible to further improve their technical performance as demonstrated with a baby shell and a harness type CRS.
Die Beurteilung der technischen und unfallrelevanten Eigenschaften der beiden Scheibenarten zeigt, dass die VSG-Scheibe gegenüber der ESG-Scheibe hinsichtlich der Verletzungs- und Unfallgefahr zwar überwiegend Vorteile aufweist; diese Vorteile sind jedoch vor allem vor dem Hintergrund steigender Gurtanlegequoten nicht als so entscheidend anzusehen, dass daraus die Begründung für ein Verbot der ESG-Scheibe abzuleiten wäre. Diese Feststellung wird insbesondere auch gestützt durch eine Nutzen-Kosten-Betrachtung, die zeigt, dass aus gesamtwirtschaftlicher Sicht bei einem generellen Ersatz der ESG-Scheibe durch die teurere VSG-Scheibe bei günstigen Annahmen der Nutzen unter den Kosten liegen würde.
Providing effective occupant protection in rollover crashes requires supplying the occupant with a restraint system proven effective in the dynamic rollover accident mode. Preventing ejection and providing restraint sufficient to prevent potentially injurious contacts with both interior and exterior vehicle components is paramount for effective rollover occupant protection. Research has shown that the injury potential can be decreased by closely coupling the occupant to the seat. This paper focuses on the effect of restraint system slack and its relationship to occupant excursion and ejection potential during rollover. Various restraint system configurations are evaluated in rollover-type test environments. A review of prior research is presented prior to presenting new quasi-static vehicle inversion studies conducted with live surrogate occupants. Additionally, dynamic rollover testing utilizing anthropometric test devices (ATDs) is presented. The influence of belt looseness and effects of various restraint designs on the belted occupants' injury potential are discussed.
Safety of light goods vehicles - findings from the German joint project of BASt, DEKRA, UDV and VDA
(2011)
Light goods vehicles (LGVs) are an important part of the vehicle fleet, providing a vital component in the European transportation system. On the other hand, LGVs are in the focus of public discussion regarding road safety. In order to analyse the accident situation of LGVs in an objective manner, Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt), VDA, DEKRA and German Insurers Accident Research (UDV) launched a joint project. The aim of this project, which will be finished by mid of 2011, is to identify reasonable measures which will further improve the safety of LGVs. For the first time, these partners jointly together conducted a research project and put together their know-how in accident research. Analyses are based on real-life accident data from the GIDAS database, the Accident Database of UDV (UDB), the DEKRA database and national statistics. The findings deliver answers to questions within the arena of future legislative actions and consumer protection activities. The analyses of databases cover areas of primary and secondary safety of LGVs with a special focus on advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), driver behaviour as well as partner and occupant protection. Key figures from national statistics are used to highlight hotspots of accidents of LGVs in Germany. Finally, the proposed countermeasures are assessed regarding their potential effectiveness. Amongst others, the results show that the accident situation of LGVs is very similar to that of passenger cars. Noteworthy variations could be found in collisions with pedestrians, at reversing and regarding accident causes. Occupant safety of LGVs is on a higher level compared to cars. Results indicate that seatbelt use is on a significantly lower level compared to cars. This leads to higher-than-average injury risk for unbelted LGV occupants. When it comes to partner protection, there are problems with compatibility at LGVs. For car occupants there is a very high injury risk when colliding with a LGV. It indicates that higher passive safety test standards for LGVs would be counterproductive if they further increase stiffness of LGVs. The analysis of LGV-pedestrian accidents shows that pedestrian kinematic differs significantly from car-pedestrian accidents. At this point, existing pedestrian related test standards developed for cars cannot be adopted to LGVs. When it comes to active safety, ESC proved its effectiveness once again. Beyond that, rear view cameras, advanced emergency braking systems and lane departure warning systems show a safety potential, too. In addition to any technical countermeasures previously discussed, the importance of the driver behavior and attitude regarding the accident risk was investigated. In order to develop successful actions it is important to understand the main target population. In the case of LGV especially the crafts business and smaller companies are the major contributors the safety issue.
In most of developed countries, the progress made in passive safety during the last three decades allowed to drastically reduce the number of killed and severely injured especially for occupants of passenger cars. This reduction is mainly observed for frontal impacts for which the AIS3+ injuries has been reduced about 52% for drivers and 38% for front passengers. The stiffening of the cars' structure coupled with the generalization of airbags and the improvement of the seatbelt restraint (load limiter, pretension, etc.) allowed to protect vital body regions such as head, neck and thorax. However, the abdomen did not take advantage with so much success of this progress. The objective of this study is to draw up an inventory on the abdominal injuries of the belted car occupants involved in frontal impact, to present adapted counter-measures and to assess their potential effectiveness. In the first part the stakes corresponding to the abdominal injuries will be defined according to types of impact, seat location, occupants' age and type of injured organs. Then, we shall focus on the abdominal injury risk curves for adults involved in frontal impact and on the comparisons of the average risks according to the seat location. In the second part we will list counter-measures and we shall calculate their effectiveness. The method of case control will be used in order to estimate odds ratio, comparing two samples, given by occupants having or not having the studied safety system. For this study, two type of data sources are used: national road injured accident census and retrospective in-depth accident data collection. Abdominal injuries are mainly observed in frontal impact (52%). Fatal or severe abdominal occupant- injuries are observed at least in 27% of cases, ranking this body region as the most injured just after the thorax (51%). In spite of a twice lower occupation rate in the back seats compared to the front seats, the number of persons sustaining abdominal injuries at the rear place is higher than in the front place. In recent cars, the risk of having a serious or fatal abdominal injury in a frontal impact is 1.6% for the driver, 3.6% for the front passenger and 6.3% for the rear occupants. The most frequently hurt organs are the small intestine (17%), the spleen (16%) and the liver (13%). The most common countermeasures have a good efficiency in the reduction of the abdominal injuries for the adults: the stiffness of the structure of the seats allows decreasing the abdominal injury risk from 54% (driver) to 60% (front occupant), the seatbelt pretensioners decrease also this risk from 90% (driver) to 83% (front passenger).
Sicherheitsgurte sind als wirksamer Schutz für Pkw-Insassen bei Verkehrsunfällen weltweit anerkannt; trotzdem werden sie in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland von den Autofahrern noch nicht im wünschenswerten Maße benutzt, obwohl Sicherheitsgurte in ihren Fahrzeugen eingebaut sind. Von dieser Situation ausgehend behandelt die vorliegende Studie sowohl die wirtschaftlichen, rechtlichen und technischen Aspekte, einschließlich alternativer Rückhaltesysteme, als auch die Frage nach der Wirksamkeit des Sicherheitsgurtes. Die Auswertung der internationalen Literatur und die Erörterung der anstehenden Probleme mit Experten führten zu folgenden Feststellungen: - Der Dreipunktgurt kann sowohl hinsichtlich seines Bedienungs- und Tragekomforts als auch im Hinblick auf die beabsichtigte Schutzwirkung im Detail verbessert werden. - Derzeit gibt es keine serienreifen Alternativen zum Gurtsystem. - Das Risiko von gurtbedingten Verletzungsverschlimmerungen ist gering, so dass ihm keine ausschlaggebende Bedeutung beigemessen werden kann. - Ausländische Erfahrungen zeigen, dass durch die Einführung eines Bußgeldes die Kraftfahrer in ihrer überwiegenden Mehrheit die Anlegepflicht befolgen. - Würden in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland alle Frontinsassen von Pkw den Gurt stets anlegen, so könnte der derzeitige Sicherheitsgewinn praktisch verdoppelt werden.
Insgesamt hat sich die Sicherungsquote erwachsener Pkw-Insassen mit 98 Prozent im Jahr 2009 leicht verbessert (2008: 97 Prozent). Kinder ab sechs Jahren waren im Jahr 2009 deutlich besser gesichert als im Vorjahr. Auf Innerortsstraßen lag die Benutzung von Kindersitzen in dieser Altersgruppe bei 72 Prozent (2008: 58 Prozent), auf Landstraßen ebenfalls bei 72 Prozent (2008: 63 Prozent). Die Verwendung von Kinderrückhaltesystemen in der Altersgruppe bis 5 Jahre hat sich auf Landstraßen von 98 auf 95 Prozent und im Innerortsverkehr von 97 auf 94 Prozent verschlechtert. Im Jahr 2009 trugen 98 Prozent der Fahrer und 100 Prozent der Mitfahrer motorisierter Zweiräder einen Schutzhelm. 18 Prozent aller motorisierten Zweiradfahrer trugen eine komplette Schutzkleidung (2008: 19 Prozent). Im Jahr 2009 trugen 11 Prozent der Fahrradfahrer einen Schutzhelm (2008: 10 Prozent), in der Gruppe der bis zehn Jahre betrug die Quote 56 Prozent (2008: 55 Prozent). Im Güterkraftverkehr hat sich das Sicherungsverhalten für alle beobachteten Kollektive deutlich verbessert, erreicht jedoch noch nicht das Niveau der Gurtnutzung von Pkw-Insassen.
Für einige europäische Länder mit vergleichbaren verkehrlichen Randbedingungen und die USA werden Analysen zur Verkehrssicherheit auf Autobahnen vorgestellt. Grundlage ist die Datenbank IRTAD (International Road Traffic and Accident Database), die unter der Schirmherrschaft der OECD von der Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen geführt wird und für wesentliche Kenngrößen des Verkehrs- und Unfallgeschehens international vergleichbare Daten enthält. Dargestellt wird die Entwicklung der Netzlängen, der Fahrleistungen, der mittleren Verkehrsstärken und der auf Autobahnen Getöteten bis zum Jahr 2000. Die fahrleistungsbezogene Getötetenrate zeigt für die meisten der betrachteten Länder eine grundsätzlich rückläufige Tendenz. Im Jahr 2000 ist der Risikowert auf deutschen Autobahnen in diesem Vergleich ungünstiger als in Großbritannien, der Schweiz und den Niederlanden. Für 2001 zeichnet sich jedoch auf deutschen Autobahnen ein deutlicher Rückgang der Getöteten und somit eine Annäherung an die günstigen Vergleichsländer ab. Für mehrere Länder werden die Gurtanlegequoten von Pkw-Fahrern auf Autobahnen dargestellt. Dabei werden in verschiedenen Ländern die Wirkungen der jeweiligen rechtlichen Verordnungen zur Gurtnutzung deutlich.
Upcoming test procedures and regulations consider the use of Q-dummies. Especially Q6 and Q10 will be introduced to assess the safety of child occupants in vehicle rear seats. Therefore detailed knowledge of these dummies is important to improve safety. As recent studies have shown, chest deflection measurements of both dummies are influenced by parameters like belt geometry. This could lead to a non optimized design of child restraint systems (CRS) and belt systems. The objective of this study is to obtain a more detailed understanding of the sensitivity of chest measurements to restraint parameters and to investigate the possibilities of chest acceleration as an alternative for the assessment of chest injury risks. A study of frontal impact sled tests was performed with Q6 and Q10 in a generic rear seat environment on a bench. Belt parameters like modified belt attachment locations were varied. For the Q6 dummy, different positioning settings of the CRS (booster with backrest) and of the dummy itself were investigated. The Q10 dummy was seated on a booster cushion. Here the position of the upper belt anchorage point was varied. To simulate the influence of vehicle rotation in the ODB crash configuration, the bench was pre-rotated on the sled in additional tests with the Q10. This configuration was tested with and without pretensioner and load limiter. Chest deflection in Q6 showed a high sensitivity to changes in positioning of the CRS and the dummy itself. A more slouched position of the CRS or dummy resulted in a reduction of measured chest deflection, whereas chest acceleration increased for a more slouched position of the CRS. Chest deflection in Q10 is sensitive to belt geometry as already shown in other studies. In a more outboard position of the shoulder belt anchorage the measured chest deflection is higher. Chest acceleration shows the opposite tendency, which is highest for the rearmost location of the upper belt anchorage. On a pre-rotated bench the highest chest deflection within this test series was observed without load limiter/pretensioner and an outboard belt position. By optimizing the belt location and the use of pretensioner/load limier the chest deflection was significantly reduced. For the Q6 a criterion based on chest acceleration as well as deflection measured at two locations might be the most reliable approach, which requires further research with an additional upper deflection sensor. In the Q10 the measured chest deflection does not always correctly reflect the severity of chest loading. The deflection is depending on initial belt position and restraint parameters as well as test conditions, which result in different directions of belt migration. A3ms chest acceleration might be a better indicator for severity of chest loading independent of different conditions like belt geometries. However, in some cases the benefit of an optimized restraint system could only be shown by deflection. These findings suggest that further research is needed to identify a chest injury assessment method, which could be based on deflection as well as acceleration or other parameters related to belt to occupant interaction.
Thoracic injury is one of the predominant types of severe injuries in frontal accidents. The assessment of the injury risk to the thorax in the current frontal impact test procedures is based on the uni-axial chest deflection measured in the dummy Hybrid III. Several studies have shown that criteria based on the linear chest potentiometer are not sensitive enough to distinguish between different restraint systems, and cannot indicate asymmetric chest loading, which has been shown to correlate to increased injury risk. Furthermore, the measurement is sensitive to belt position on the dummy chest. The objective of this study was to evaluate the optical multipoint chest deflection measurement system "RibEye" in frontal impact sled tests. Therefore the sensitivity of the RibEyesystem to different restraint system parameters was investigated. Furthermore, the issue of signal drop out at the 6 th rib was investigated in this study.A series of sled tests were conducted with the RibEye system in the Hybrid III 50%. The sled environment consisted of a rigid seat and a standard production three-point seat belt system. Rib deflections were recorded with the RibEye system and additionally with the standard chest potentiometer. The tests were carried out at crash pulses of two different velocities (30 km/h and 64 km/h). The tests were conducted with different belt routing to investigate the sensitivity of chest deflection measurements to belt position on the dummy chest. Furthermore, different restraint system parameters were investigated (force limiter level, with or without pretensioning) to evaluate if the RibEye measurements provide additional information to distinguish between restraint system configurations . The results showed that with the RibEye system it was possible to identify the effect of belt routing in more detail. The chest deflections measured with the standard chest potentiometer as well as the maximum deflection measured by RibEye allowed the distinction to be made between different force limiter levels. The RibEye system was also able to clearly show the asymmetric deflection of the rib cage due to belt loading. In some configurations, differences of more than 15 mm were observed between the left and side areas of the chest. Furthermore, the abdomen insert was identified as source of the problem of signal drop out at the 6th rib. Possible solutions are discussed. In conclusion, the RibEye system provided valuable additional information regarding the assessment of restraint systems. It has the potential to enable the evaluation of thoracic injury risk due to asymmetric loading. Further investigations with the RibEye should be extended to tests in a vehicle environment, which include a vehicle seat and other restraint system components such as an airbag.