Real world accident reconstruction with the Total Human Model for Safety (THUMS) in Pam-Crash
(2013)
Further improvement of vehicle safety needs detailed analysis of real world accidents. According to GIDAS (German In-Depth Accident Study) most car to car front accidents occur at mid-crash severity. In this range thoracic injuries already occur. In this study a real world frontal crash with mid-crash severity out of the AARU database was reconstructed. The selected car to car accident was reconstructed by AARU by means of pc-crash software in order to get the initial dynamic accident conditions. These initial conditions were used to reconstruct the complete accident in more detail using FE models for the car structure and the occupants. Occupant simulations were performed with FE HIII-dummy models and the THUMS using Pam-Crash code. An initial THUMS validation was performed in order to verify the model-´s biofidelity by means of table-top test simulations. THUMS bone stiffness values were modified to match the real word occupant age. A comparison between driver and passenger restraint system loading was done, as well as an injury prediction comparison between the HIII-dummy model and THUMS response for both cases. Detailed comparison between the HIII-dummy models and THUMS regarding thoracic loading are discussed.
Since its beginning in 1999, the German In-Depth Accident Study (GIDAS) evolved into the presumably leading representative road traffic accident investigation in Europe, based on the work started in Hanover in 1973. The detailed and comprehensive description of traffic accidents forms an essential basis for vehicle safety research. Due to the ongoing extension of demands of researchers, there is a continuous progress in the techniques and systematic of accident investigation within GIDAS. This paper presents some of the most important developments over the last years. Primary vehicle safety systems are expected to have a significant and increasing influence on reducing accidents. GIDAS therefore began to include and collect active safety parameters as new variables from the year 2005 onwards. This will facilitate to assess the impact of present and future active safety measures. A new system to analyse causation factors of traffic accidents, called ACASS, was implemented in GIDAS in the year 2008. The whole process of data handling was optimised. Since 2005 the on-scene data acquisition is completely conducted with mobile tablet PCs. Comprehensive plausibility checks assure a high data quality. Multi-language codebooks are automatically generated from the database structure itself and interfaces ensure the connection to various database management systems. Members of the consortium can download database and codebook, and synchronize half a terabyte of photographic documentation through a secured online access. With the introduction of the AIS 2005 in the year 2006, some medical categorizations have been revised. To ensure the correct assignment of AIS codes to specific injuries an application based on a diagnostic dictionary was developed. Furthermore a coding tool for the AO classification was introduced. All these enhancements enable GIDAS to be up to date for future research questions.
Die zukünftige Entwicklung der Straßenverkehrssicherheit und damit auch der Fahrzeugsicherheit wird durch gesellschaftliche, wirtschaftliche, klimapolitische und verkehrspolitische Rand- und Rahmenbedingungen und die voranschreitende technische Entwicklung geprägt sein, die auch für den Gesetzgeber eine Herausforderung darstellen. So wird sich auch das Folgeprogramm des Bundesministeriums für Verkehr, Bau und Stadtentwicklung (BMVBS) für das derzeitige aus dem Jahr 2001 stammende "Programm für mehr Sicherheit im Straßenverkehr" an den Schwerpunkten des "4th Road Safety Action Programme" ausrichten, das im Frühjahr 2010 durch die EU-Kommission veröffentlicht werden soll. Im Prozess zu einer weiteren Verbesserung der Straßenverkehrssicherheit werden unter anderem der demografische Wandel in unserer Gesellschaft, die durch eine erforderliche CO2-Reduktion bedingte Einführung alternativer Antriebe (Elektromobilität) verbunden mit Leichtbau sowie die gesetzlichen Rahmenbedingung (Wiener Abkommen) eine bedeutende Rolle spielen. Die Klärung der gesetzlichen Rahmenbedingungen ist unerlässlich, um die Vision vom unfallfreien Fahren Realität werden lassen zu können.
Stahlbrücken mit orthotropen Fahrbahnplatten haben in Deutschland eine lange Traditon, bedürfen aber aufgrund der ständig gestiegenen Belastung durch den Schwerverkehr in einigen Fällen einer Instandsetzung oder sogar einer nachträglichen Verstärkung. Der Beitrag stellt vor diesem Hintergrund neue Wege und Methoden zur Verstärkung orthotroper Fahrbahnplatten vor und erläutert die Grundsätze und Randbedingungen ihrer Anwendung. Alle Erfahrungen haben gezeigt, dass nur Verstärkungsmethoden, die das Trag- und Verformungsverhalten der orthotropen Platte beachten und verbessern, erfolgreich sind. Nachdem die technische Entwicklung der orthotropen Platte dargestellt wurde, geht der Bericht auf die Bemessung sowie auf das Trag- und Verformungsverhalten dieses Bauteils ein. Grundsätzlich erfolgt die Berechnung und Bemessung der orthotropen Platte durch Zerlegung des Gesamtsystems in einzelne Subsysteme, die den Kräfteweg von den einwirkenden Reifenlasten bis in die Auflagerkräfte der Brücke stufenweise nachvollziehen. Auf die Bemessung der Subsysteme und die potenziell an den Systemen möglichen Schäden wird eingegangen. In einem weiteren Teil behandelt der Bericht Erfahrungen mit Instandsetzungsverfahren. Die Gefährdung der Dauerhaftigkeit der Bauteile wird in die Kategorien 1 bis 4 eingeteilt, mit Kategorie 1 als höchster Gefährdungsstufe. Die bei den einzelnen Kategorien aufgetretenen Schäden, ihre Ausprägung und die Ursachen des Entstehens werden erläutert. Der Bericht beschreibt auch Planungsmittel für Instandsetzungs- und Verstärkungsmaßnahmen sowie prophylaktische Verstärkungsmaßnahmen und die Entwicklung nachhaltiger Verstärkungen. Dabei spielt bei einigen Maßnahmen die Verbesserung der Verbundeigenschaften zwischen Stahlblech und Asphaltbelag eine wichtige Rolle. Weitere Entlastungsmöglichkeiten des Deckblechs bestehen darin, die Steifigkeit durch eine aufgesetzte Sandwichkonstruktion zu vergrößern oder das Deckblech mit einer 50 mm dicken Schicht aus bewehrtem hochfesten Stahlfaserbeton zu verstärken.
Abstract: The number of accidents that can be attributed to driving under the influence of psychoactive substances (alcohol, drugs, and certain medicines) is constantly on a high level with drugs and medicines proportionally increasing over the years. The overall objective of the EU 6th Framework Programme project DRUID is to gain better knowledge of the various aspects of driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol and medicines. DRUID wants to offer scientific support to EU transport policy makers by suggesting guidelines and measures to combat impaired driving. To reach this ambitious aim a wide range of studies is conducted. The various studies are divided into seven work packages with complex interdependencies. There are experimental studies assessing the effects of single and combined psychoactive substances on driving performance (WP1) as well as epidemiological studies aiming to assess the situation in Europe regarding prevalence of alcohol and other psychoactive substances in drivers (WP2).The principal objective of these studies is to gain relative risk estimates for traffic accident involvement of drivers impaired by psychoactive substances and to recommend substance concentration thresholds. A theoretical framework which allows the integration of the experimental and epidemiological findings serves as a fundament for developing these recommendations. WP3 aims at improving the possibilities of detecting drug driving in Europe. Police forces evaluate practically (under realistic enforcement conditions) oral fluid screening devices. A scientific evaluation of oral fluid screening devices and other methods (i.e. roadside checklists of signs of impairment) is done as well. The outcome of the practical and scientific evaluations serves as input to cost-benefit analyses of enforcement.
Die Begutachtung der Fahreignung beinhaltet in Deutschland neben einer medizinischen Untersuchung und einer psychologischen Exploration gegebenenfalls auch die Anwendung anlassbezogener verhaltenswissenschaftlicher/psychologischer Testverfahren. Diese stellen keine isolierte Maßnahme dar, sondern sind Bestandteil eines Begutachtungsprozesses. Dabei stellt der sachgerechte Gebrauch von so genannten Grenzwerten unter Berücksichtigung der Einzelfallgerechtigkeit und der Einhaltung des Grundsatzes der Verhältnismäßigkeit eine unabdingbare Voraussetzung dar. Testwerte sind nicht absolut, sondern relativ und üben von daher einen eher geringen Einfluss auf das Gutachtenergebnis in Bezug auf eine Prognose des Verkehrsverhaltens aus. Im Bereich des Verkehrsverhaltens kommt es nicht entscheidend darauf an, ob eine im Milli- oder Nanobereich exakte Messgenauigkeit erreicht wird, sondern wie die verkehrsmedizinischen, verkehrspsychologischen, technischen und anderen Sachverständigen mit dem Messwert fachlich umgehen. So müssen im Bereich der Begutachtung der Fahreignung tätige psychologische und medizinische Sachverständige in der Lage sein, Befunde im Einzelfall fehler-, mangel- sowie widerspruchsfrei zu interpretieren. Dies beinhaltet auch, sich mit den Ergebnissen eines psychologischen Testverfahrens fach- und sachgerecht auseinanderzusetzen, nach Kompensationsmöglichkeiten zu suchen und gegebenenfalls eine psychologische Fahrverhaltensbeobachtung durchzuführen. Bei grenzwertigen Vorgaben handelt es sich nicht um "Cut-Offs", sondern um "kritische Grenzwerte", die im Zusammenhang mit mehreren anderen Faktoren zu werten sind.
The accident research of Hanover and (from 1999 on) Dresden registered 736 leg injuries (AIS ≥ 2) from 1983 to March 2007. 174 of these injuries (23.6 %) were fractures or dislocations of foot and ankle. 149 feet of 141 front seat car occupants in 140 cars were affected. Of these 117 were drivers, 24 were front seat passengers. The mean age of occupants was 38.5 -± 16.8 years. Ankle fractures were the most frequent injury (n = 82; 80 malleolar fractures, 2 pilon fractures). 34 fractures and dislocations affected the hindfoot (5 talus and 26 calcaneal fractures, 2 subtalar dislocations and 1 subtotal amputation) , 16 to midfoot (4 navicular fractures, 5 cuboid fractures, 3 fractures of cuneiformia, 2 dislocations of chopart joint, 1 subtotal amputation, and one severe decollement) and 39 the forefoot (metatarsal fractures). Open fractures were seldom seen (2 malleolar fractures, 1 metatarsal fracture). Both feet were injured in 10 cases. 33 occupants (23.4 %) were polytaumatic had a polytrauma, 17 of them died. 81 percent of the occupants were belted. The cars were divided in pre EuroNCAP (year of manufacture 1997 and older) and post EuroNCAP cars (year of manufacture 1998 and newer). Most of the foot injuries were seen in pre EuroNCAP cars. Most of the occupants sat in compact cars (40 drivers and 9 front seat passengers) and large family cars (27 drivers and 7 co-drivers). 49 of 140 accidents occurred on country roads, 26 on main roads and 13 on motorways. The crash direction was mostly frontal. Generally were found no differences of delta v- and EES-level between the injured foot regions, but divided into pre- and post-EuroNCAP cars there was a tendency to higher delta v- and EES-levels in newer cars. The frequency of foot injuries increased linearly with increasing delta v-level; but above delta v-level of 55 km/h the linear increase only was seen in pre-EuroNCAP cars, post-EuroNCAP cars showed no further increase of injuries. The footwell intrusion showed no difference between the injured foot regions but pre-EuroNCAP cars had a tendency to higher footwell intrusion. There were no differences in footwell intrusion between the car types. Only 29 of 174 fractures or dislocations of foot were seen in post-EuroNCAP cars, the predominate number of these injuries (n = 145) were noticed in pre-EuroNCAP cars. A lower probability of long-term impairment was found in post-EuroNCAP cars for equal delta v levels, using the AIS2008 associated Functional Capacity Index (FCI) for the foot region.
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.
Der Beitrag befasst sich mit den notwendigen Änderungen in den ZTV-ING, Teil 4 Stahlbau, Abschnitt 3 Korrosionschutz zu den Anforderungen an das Personal bei Korrosionschutzarbeiten im Vergleich mit den bisherigen Regelungen der ZTV-KOR-Stahlbauten. Zukünftig muss der Kolonnenführer seine Qualifikation durch den so genannten KOR-Schein nachweisen, bei dem es sich um eine Bescheinigung des Ausbildungsbeirats des Bundesverbandes Korrosionsschutz e.V. (BVK) über eine erfolgreich abgelegte Pruefung handelt. Bis es möglich ist, diesen Schein zu erwerben, werden die Qualifikationsnachweise nach ZTV-KOR-Stahlbauten anerkannt. Die konstituierende Sitzung des Ausbildungsbeirats hat am 17. Juni 2008 stattgefunden. Als Hauptaufgaben des Ausbildungsbeirats sind mit dem Allgemeinen Rundschreiben Straßenbau ARS 13/2007 formuliert worden: Festlegung der Zugangsvoraussetzungen für Lehrgänge zum Erwerb des KOR-Scheins, Formulierung der Lehrinhalte, Erstellung einer Prüfungsordnung, Erarbeitung eines Handbuchs fuer die Lehrgänge, Berufung eines Prüfungsausschusses und Festlegung der Anforderungen an die Ausbildungsstätten.
Passive Schutzeinrichtungen aus Stahl werden vor Korrosion durch Verzinken geschützt. Bis 2008 handelte es sich ausschließlich um Stückverzinkung. Im Jahr 2008 hat das Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Bau und Stadtentwicklung bis auf Widerruf dem Einsatz von Schutzplankenholmen aus bandverzinkten Stahl zugestimmt. Der Beitrag beschreibt das Verhalten von Zinküberzügen an der Atmosphäre, die Unterschiede zwischen Stück- und Bandverzinkung für Konstruktionsteile, die Grundlage der Zustimmung zum Einsatz von bandverzinkten Schutzplankenholmen und die Auswertung eines Freibewitterungsversuches mit bandverzinkten Schutzplankenholmen nach 9 Jahren.
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.
Cyclists are more likely to be injured in fatal crashes than motorised vehicles. To gain detailed and precise behavioural data of road users, i.e. trajectories, a measuring campaign was conducted. Therefore, a black-spot for accidents with cyclists in Berlin, Germany was selected. The traffic has been detected by a fully automated traffic video analysis system continuously for twelve hours. The video surveillance system is capable of automatically extracting trajectories, classifying road user types and precise determining and positioning of conflicts and accidents. Additionally, pre-conflict and pre-accident situations could be analysed to provide further in-depth understanding of accident causation. The evaluation of the measuring campaign comprised the investigation of traffic parameters, e.g. traffic flow, as well as traffic-safety related parameters based on Surrogate Safety Measures (SSM). Furthermore, the spatial and temporal distributions of conflicts involving cyclists were determined. As a result, three possible conflict clusters could be identified, of which one cluster could be confirmed by detailed video analysis, showing conflicts caused by right turning vehicles.