Head boundary conditions in pedestrian crashes with passenger cars: six-degrees-of-freedom post-mortem human subject responses

Abstract

In pedestrian-vehicle crashes, head injuries cause death and long-term disability. Thus, understanding the head kinematics is vital. Head rotation data are scarce, and the influence of individual anthropometry, upper body and arm kinematics on head kinematics is poorly understood. This paper investigates the influence of anthropometry, upper body and arm kinematics on head linear and angular kinematics, providing novel six-degrees-of-freedom data from pedestrian-vehicle-crash experiments. Five similarly positioned subjects were struck by a mid-size sedan at 40 km/h. Three-dimensional translation and three-dimensional rotation of the head, spine and shoulders were compared. Head kinematics differed considerably among the subjects. Variations in anthropometry changed pelvic sliding towards the windshield. Arm responses altered head impact velocity and head rotation. The results have implications for future experiments, evaluation of human models and the design of pedestrian safety systems. Head injury risk can be moderated by reducing head rotation before head impact, and by reducing pelvic sliding

Accidents involving pedestrians with their backs to traffic or facing traffic: an evaluation of crash characteristics and injuries

“…Regarding body injured regions by pedestrians, comparatively consistent findings have been reported in past studies —research has suggested that head/lower/upper extremities injuries are the most common injury regions. Head injuries tend to be more life‐threatening, while lower/upper extremities are likely to lead to long‐term disability .…”

Pedestrian Head Impact Analysis on a Vehicle and Measures to Reduce HIC Value

“…The Finite Element Method (FEM) addresses the reason for the logical plan of the issue (10). The information about underlying reaction to crashes for different method for transport can be definitive in various applications (11). PC-Crash incautious model re-enactments results are thought of effective signs of the genuine kinematics (12).…”

Kinematics and dynamics of pedestrian head ground contact: A cadaver study

“…Cadaver tests provide model validation data and have the potential to greatly strengthen our understanding of pedestrian ground contact. However, previous tests have mainly focused on vehicle contact, with limited reference to ground contact (Kerrigan et al, 2007;Masson et al, 2007;Paas et al, 2015;Subit et al, 2008) or else crash test dummies were used (Hamacher et al, 2011;Taneda et al, 1973). In early work, (Cavallero et al, 1983) concluded that head-ground contact location and speed could not be predicted from vehicle shape.…”

“…However, tests were performed only at 32 km/h, vehicle shapes have changed substantially and no ground contact kinematics or injuries were reported. More recently, cadaver studies performed in the US and France have used a range of vehicle shapes and pedestrian sizes (Kerrigan et al, 2007;Paas et al, 2015;Subit et al, 2008), but ground contact kinematics/injuries were not evaluated. In fact, the sequence of pedestrian motion following head contact on vehicle has received little attention and is poorly described.…”