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    <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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    <atom:link href="https://trid.trb.org/Record/RSS?s=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" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
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    <language>en-us</language>
    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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      <title>Government Status Report, 2017 Federal Republic of Germany</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1498103</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This report first looks at status and trends in Germany, focusing on road accidents, the socio-economic costs due to road traffic accidents, and a review of the German Road Safety Program. The report next discusses research projects, describing finished projects such as those studying winter tires, camera monitoring systems, and urban space. Ongoing research projects described include a turning assist system for trucks, the Proactive Safety for Pedestrians and Cyclists (PROSPECT) project involving Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) and advanced vehicle control strategies for combined steering and braking, HMI aspects of Camera-Monitor-Systems, accessibility in long distance buses, safety of children in cars, appropriate helmets for S-Pedelecs, active bonnets, the Safety ENhanced Innovations for Older Road users (SENIORS) project, and Human Body Modeling. Additional ongoing research projects are mentioned focusing on areas such as automatic emergency braking for heavy goods vehicles, automatically commanded steering functions, driverless safeguarding vehicles for highway shoulder roadworks, and cooperative, highly automated driving (Ko-HAF). The report concludes with a perspective on various finished studies. Projects in which the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) was successful are also mentioned.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jan 2018 09:28:30 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1498103</guid>
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      <title>Government Status Report of Republic of Korea</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1498057</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Government Status Report of the Republic of Korea begins with a discussion on fatalities in road traffic accidents. An analysis of road traffic accidents statistics shows that the number of fatalities from road traffic accidents decreased by 17.9 % from 5,229 deaths in 2011 to 4,294 deaths in 2016. To improve national road safety the 8th transportation safety master plan was established and will be implemented in the next 5 years (2017-2021). The goal is to decrease the number of fatalities of road traffic accidents to be below 2,800 by 2021. The 2nd vehicle policy master plan was also established to cope with the changes in vehicle policy environments and new technologies in the next 5 years (2017-2021). The report next introduces what the Korean government is carrying out regarding International Harmonization activities. These include: seatbelt reminders, an amendment proposal regarding the fire resistance of a Rechargeable Electric Energy Storage System (REESS), participation in developing safety regulations of autonomous vehicles, and an amendment to develop a new test procedure for active hood systems and their impact regarding pedestrian protection. Additional amendments regarding Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in heavy duty commercial vehicles, vehicle emergency exits, and camera monitor systems are briefly described. Changes in the New Car Assessment program are also mentioned, focusing on vulnerable road users and ADAS. The report concludes with a discussion on Research and Development activities, including a second vehicle policy master plan, safety of micro mobility, approval of a real world test bed for autonomous vehicles, and measures to improve commercial vehicle safety.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jan 2018 09:28:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1498057</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Government Status Report of Japan</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1498017</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The number of fatalities (those who died within 24 hours) resulting from traffic accidents in 2016 was 3,904. This represents a great decrease in the number of fatalities compared to the previous year. This number is about one-fourth the 16,765 fatalities in 1970, which was the year in which the number of fatalities reached its peak. In addition, the number of accidents resulting in injury or death and the number of injured persons decreased for the twelfth consecutive year in a row since 2004, when the numbers were at their worst. However, both the number of fatalities and injured persons and the number of accidents resulting in injury remained high in 2016, as there were approximately 620,000 fatalities and injured persons, and approximately 500,000 accidents resulting in injury or death. New targets were established: to reduce the number of fatalities to below 2,500 (those who died within 24 hours) and to below around 3,500 (those who died within 30 days) by 2020 in the Tenth Fundamental Traffic Safety Program for 2016–2020. The road transport environment is beginning to change greatly due to the change in types of traffic accident victims reflecting the aging society and the introduction of Advanced Safety Technologies including Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS). Therefore, on 24th June 2016 the Working Group on Technology and Vehicle Safety of the Council for Transport Policy of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) reported a new target for 2020 to reduce the number of fatalities by implementing vehicle safety measures and evaluating their effect, and setting the policy for reaching the new target. Future direction of safety measures includes the following:  I. Countermeasures for accidents involving Children and the Elderly, II. Safety Measures for Pedestrians and Cyclists, III. Countermeasures against Serious Accidents Involving Large-Sized Vehicles, and  IV. Response to New Technologies such as Automatic Driving.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jan 2018 09:28:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1498017</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Government Status Report, Sweden 2017</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1497977</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This Government Status Report begins with a discussion of the roles and responsibilities of the Swedish Transport Administration, which manages the planning and operations of the entire transport system, as well as holding responsibility for research on mobility, the environment, and traffic safety. The Swedish Transport Agency is the other transportation authority, having overall responsibility for regulations in the air, sea, railroad and road traffic sectors. The report next focuses on road traffic fatalities, noting that Sweden is one of the safest countries when it comes to road traffic, with a level of 2.6 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015. The Vision Zero program, adopted in 1997 and renewed in 2016, sets forth the goal of zero fatalities in Swedish road transport, with target years of 2020 and 2030. A gradual replacement of the vehicle fleet, while contributing to an improvement in road safety, was estimated to not be enough to reach the 2020 target. Additional safety systems, such as Electronic Stability Control (ESC), seat belt reminders, Autonomous Emergency Braking (AED), and Anti-lock Brakes (ABS) on motorcycles are being promoted in Sweden. The report discusses how FFI - Strategic Vehicle Research and Innovation funds R&D that focuses on climate, environment and safety. Investments in FFI take place in different collaborative programs, such as traffic safety and automated vehicles. The report concludes with a look at fields for further research, such as alcohol locks and impaired drivers, road safety cameras, and speed management, and automated cars and the implication for infrastructure design.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jan 2018 09:28:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1497977</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>US Side NCAP Rating Trends Since 2011</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1497776</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The purpose of this study was to identify side impact crashworthiness trends since the enhanced New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) rating system was implemented for 2011 and later model year vehicles. Publicly available test results from NHTSA’s crashworthiness database for 2011 to 2016 model year vehicles were collected. This study used new vehicle tests only. No carry over performance data was used. Commercial statistics software was used to observe vehicle crashworthiness performance, injury metrics, restraint, and vehicle deformation trends. Mean side impact relative risk score improved from 2011 to 2015, with the largest improvement occurring from 2012 and 2013. Both the driver and rear occupant demonstrated reduced injury metrics over the years examined, with the largest reductions from 2012 to 2013. During this same time period, the use of torso-abdomen-pelvis side airbags increased by 13.5 percent. Additionally, B-pillar deformation was reduced by 55 mm over the study period with the largest reduction occurring from 2012 to 2013. Though causative mechanisms for injury metric reductions could not be determined, this study documented the changes observed in crashworthiness performance, restraint system, and vehicle deformation.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jan 2018 09:28:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1497776</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Car to Car Front Crash Equivalent Protocol</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1497763</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The target of front crash protocols is to finally represent a "Car to Car" (C2C) impact, which is the most frequent configuration in real life. But C2C is a too complex and costly configuration to be applied on an  experimental and even numerical point of view. Particularly, a numerical C2C simulation will require many finite elements (FE) and so heavy calculation time (with in addition, more numerical bug risks, because modeling the front interface between the 2 cars is complex ). Also, the post calculation analysis is much heavier (2 different cars to be analyzed and twice as biomechanic criteria if dummy models are implemented). Furthermore, some specific criteria (especially compatibility criteria) can not be rated during a C2C crash test, because they need a deformable barrier (which represents a medium car of the market) to be measured as car front face aggressiveness characteristics, and global car’s stiffness (dynamometric force measurement on barrier trolley). The goal of this study is to define the front crash protocol which responds the best at the following problem: 1) to represent the physics of C2C front crashes, and 2) to be easier to use in car design process. For that purpose, the authors will follow this method: First, they will carry out a theoretical study of the C2C front crash, in order to understand its physical main phenomenon, under 3 different and complementary aspects: 1) Mathematical aspect with simple models,  2) Numerical aspect with FE calculations, and 3) Experimental aspect with C2C tests analysis. Secondly, the authors will exploit the obtained results, in particular: 1) Mathematical models to well represent kinematics and global interaction of each car,  2) Numerical modelling to be efficient to qualify energy absorption, front face interaction area and Pulse of the tested car,  and 3) Experimental results to be able to give global physical characteristics usable in car design. The authors will then discuss and answer the following questions: 1) Limitations and disadvantages of theoretical and numerical approaches, 2) What is the best relevant protocol to represent a C2C front crash and if it is reliable (comparison with others' protocols and parametric studies), and 3) How to provide better compatibility. Finally, the authors will conclude and open the field. The numerical study was conducted with the cooperation of the ACTOAT company and the C2C tests at UTAC laboratory.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jan 2018 09:28:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1497763</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Inflator Performance Optimization with New PAB Concept for OMDB, LRD</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1497762</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A new crash mode will be introduced in the North American market. If the existing 56kph frontal crashworthiness was one of the most important challenges for the manufacturer, the 90kph 15° inclined 35% overlap collision will be an issue in the future. Major injuries that occurred during a frontal collision were head acceleration and neck injury, while in the new mode, head rotation and neck injury were major injuries. This is to protect passengers in an actual crash mode based on actual accident investigation. In addition to the new crash mode, the use of the new mode makes it difficult to satisfy passenger injuries with the characteristics of existing airbags. Accordingly, various tasks are being performed by the manufacturers of passive safety systems. Especially, the pressure and performance of the Passenger Air Bag (PAB) are very important because the THOR dummy located in the right hand (RH) side is greatly influenced by the PAB performance. In this paper, the authors analyze the passenger movement of the RH side and improve the injury through the airbag performance. The THOR dummy of the far side is of interest in the left-leaning collision. Plus, North American regulations must also satisfy the Low Risk Deployment (LRD) testing with the same inflator and cushion. In this paper, the authors propose improvement of the airbag which can satisfy both Brain Injury Criterion (BRIC) and LRD performance which are the main items of the Oblique Moving Deformable Barrier (OMDB) crash test. Especially, the authors will seek improvement through the inflator optimization and a new concept of a cushion which is the most important factor of the passenger airbag.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jan 2018 09:28:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1497762</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Study on Car-to-Car Frontal Offset Impact with Vehicle Compatibility</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493748</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Euro NCAP has been developing a new car-to-car frontal offset crash test protocol including crash compatibility assessment. The current frontal offset test called ODB (Offset Deformable Barrier) test will be substituted by the new test in 2020. This new test uses a new barrier called MPDB (Mobile Offset Progressive Deformable Barrier). The anthropomorphic test device (ATD) in the front seats will be changed from HybridIII 50th percentile male to THOR (Test Device for Human Occupant Restraint) 50th percentile male. In this paper, two full car-to-car crash tests have been conducted. A THOR 50th percentile male dummy in the driver position and a Hybrid-III 50th percentile male dummy were seated in the front passenger position. Also, Q6 and Q10 were seated in the rear position. The test results consisted of vehicle responses, occupant responses and crash compatibility assessment. In the second MPDB test, additional restraint systems were used to improve occupant response. The crash compatibility was assessed by standard deviation of the barrier intrusion, energy absorption and delta-V of the MPDB. In the vehicle responses, the crash severity was increased as the relative impact speed increased in comparison with the ODB test. The vehicle deformation and Y-direction movement were similar with the ODB test, but the vehicle body pulse severity was increased remarkably. The crash event timing of the MPDB was faster than the ODB test. So this pulse severity was similar to the full frontal impact at 50km/h. In the occupant responses, most of injury criteria were increased. Especially, the chest compression values of front seats were significantly increased because of increased body pulse severity and THOR dummy’s multipoint measurement system. In the second MPDB test, the improvement possibility of the chest compression value was identified, so it needs a study of the additional optimization method such as CAE and sled test. In the crash compatibility assessment, final ratings were bare minimum. The causes of this result were the fracture of the front-end beam and the poor deformation of the front side member. In order to improve the crash compatibility, it needs the improved structure such as the body structure using the multi-load path system which helps by distributing crash energy to various sub-structures.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jan 2018 09:28:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493748</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Collisions Between Cars and Unprotected Road Users - Is There More to Address Than the Front of the Car?</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493747</link>
      <description><![CDATA[All efforts made until now regarding pedestrian friendly car design focused on the vehicle front. For bicyclists it will be the same. All passive and active measures are designed to handle the impact of a pedestrian or a bicyclist with the vehicle front which may include the wing area also. Accident research proves this approach: It is correct to cover these areas first and with the most effort. But there are certain accident patterns which need attention, too. And furthermore, there are already technical measures available which could address these accident patterns. For this study, the in-depth database of the German Insurers (UDB) was used. It contains a representative cross section of all third party insurance claims reported between 2002 and 2012. The analyzed datapool contains n=416 bicyclist-car accidents and n=390 pedestrian-car accidents. Data shows the need to address the front impact for bicyclists (59%) and pedestrians (59%) as it is done nowadays. But there are other noticeable problems like the rear impact, for example. 17% (n=63) of the car-pedestrian accidents were rear impacts where the car was reversing slowly. In 63% of these cases the pedestrians were 69 years or older. Almost half of the involved pedestrians suffered MAIS3+ injuries that were all caused by the impact with the ground. It was also interesting that one third of the pedestrians that were hit by the rear end of the car were not moving as the impact occurred. Another example is the side impact for bicyclists. In 37% (n=139) of all bicyclist-car accidents the impact occurred on the side of the car, only 4% (n=15) were rear impacts. Noticeable is that in 18% of the cases the bicyclist got hit by the door of the car during door opening. The paper will analyse these patterns more in detail and will discuss technical ways to avoid accidents like these. Further on full-scale-tests regarding door opening were conducted to get a better understanding of kinematics and loads. So it could be shown that the door opening angle has an important influence on the kinematics of the bicyclist. With “Vision Zero” in mind all road safety potentials have to raise especially these where technical “ingredients” are already on the market. Finally it is up to manufacturers, legislation or consumer test organizations to identify safety related shortcomings and come up or ask for suitable countermeasures.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Jan 2018 10:54:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493747</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Pedestrian Protection: FLEX-PLI Against TRL Impactor</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493746</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The pedestrian protection given by a vehicle is assessed according to four independent impact test procedures, related to different body segments. Four impactors were developed specifically: leg, upper-leg, child head and adult head. These impactors, which are thrown against specific zones of the front face of the vehicle, allow the measurements of biomechanical criteria simulating the injury risk during the impact. Such test procedures are used by Euro NCAP and by the European regulation on pedestrian protection. Concerning the leg, the first impactor used was the TRL impactor, but since 2014, the TRL impactor was replaced by the FLEX-PLI impactor for the Euro NCAP tests. The conception and the biomechanical criteria are different between the TRL and the FLEX-PLI. A specific study is carried out, to quantify behavioural differences between these two impactor tests. In the first part of this study, various tests are performed with FLEX-PLI and TRL impactors on vehicles with different heights of front face. In these tests the authors check if vehicles that respect the Euro NCAP criteria with the TRL impactor, also respect the Euro NCAP criteria with the FLEX-PLI impactor. These tests are carried out with the cooperation of UTAC CERAM. Then, in the second part, after analysis of the tests results, the authors identify the least favourable front face geometries for the FLEX-PLI impactor for the respect of the Euro NCAP requirements. Then using numerical simulations, the authors identify design and conception levers that allow to improve the results for the FLEX-PLI test for this kind of front face geometries. The numerical study is conducted with the cooperation of the ACTOAT company.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Jan 2018 10:54:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493746</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>A Draft Regulation for Driver Assist Systems Addressing Truck-Cyclist Blind Spot Accidents</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493745</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Accidents between right turning trucks and straight driving cyclists often show massive consequences. Accident severity in terms of seriously or fatally injured cyclists that are involved is much higher than in accidents of other traffic participants in other situations. It seems clear that adding additional mirrors will very likely not improve the situation. At ESV 2015, a methodology to derive test procedures and first test cases as well as requirements for a driver assist system to address blind spot accidents has been presented. However, it was unclear if and how testing of these cases is feasible, to what extent characteristics of different truck concepts (e.g. articulated vehicles, rigid vehicles) influence the test conduction and outcome, and what tolerances should be selected for the different variables. This work is important for the acceptance of a draft regulation in the UN working group on general safety. In the meantime, three test series using a single tractor vehicle, a tractor-semitrailer combination and a rigid vehicle have been conducted. The test tools (e.g. surrogate devices) have been refined. A fully crashable, commercially available bicycle dummy has been tested. If used correctly, this dummy does follow a straight line quite precisely and it does not cause any damage to the truck under test in case of accidental impact. The dummy specifications are freely available. During testing, the different vehicle categories resulted in different trajectories being driven. Articulated vehicle combinations did first execute a turn into the opposite direction, and on the other hand, single tractor vehicles did behave comparably to passenger cars. A possible solution to take these behaviors into account is to require the vehicles to drive through a corridor that is narrow for a precise straight-driving phase and extends during the turn. Other investigated parameters are the dummy and vehicle speed tolerances. The results from this research make it possible to draft a regulation for a driver assistance system that helps to avoid blind spot accidents: test cases have been refined, their feasibility has been checked, and corridors for the vehicles and for important parameters (e.g. test speeds) have been set. The test procedure is applicable to all types of heavy goods vehicles. In combination with the accidentology (ESV 2015 paper), the work provides the basis for a regulation for such an assistance system.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Jan 2018 10:54:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493745</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Accident Risks of Cyclists Using the Bicycle Path Depending on the Side of the Road</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493744</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Two way cycle lanes are common in Germany and especially in rural areas. However, sometimes they are also used within city limits. There are special accident risks connected with two way cycle paths. These are in towns at crossings where especially the drivers of motorised vehicles often do not consider cyclists using the left side cycle path and in rural areas at points where the cyclists need to cross the main road in order to get to the cycle path. For this study data from GIDAS (German In Depths Accident Study) is analysed which is based on a representative accident sample that is collected in the cities and surrounding areas of Dresden and Hannover. It is important to know that in the town of Hannover cycle paths are considerably often designed as two way cycle paths while this is not the case in Dresden. There are about 1,500 cyclists in the GIDAS sample that were involved in an accident using the left cycle path inside city limits and about 50 outside city limits. Both groups are almost similar in size compared to the cyclists that are using the cycle path on the right side. This paper analyses accident risks for cyclists using the left cycle path compared to those using the right one. There is also a comparison between those that used the left cycle path where it was allowed to those that used the left cycle path where it was not allowed. The analysis is conducted also by comparing the Dresden data to the Hannover data in order to analyse whether or not there are differences for the two cities with different cycle path design policies. In the scope of this study scenarios were created for conflicts of vehicles with cyclists at junctions in towns, while accidents in rural areas where the cyclists need to cross the main road due to only one available cycle path could not be identified efficiently enough from the database. In general for the accidents at junctions in towns the analysis revealed that accidents with cyclists travelling on the left bicycle path (allowed or not) are not prone to a higher accident risk where a road user turns off the main road. There is however a higher risk at junctions where a road user crosses the bicycle path to enter the priority road which is influenced by the observation strategy of the entering vehicle. The comparison of the accident situations of the cities Dresden and Hannover also revealed that seemingly there is no “training effect” in Hannover meaning that the road users there could be more used to bicyclists on the left cycle path.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Jan 2018 10:54:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493744</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Development of Fit Envelopes to Promote Compatibility Among Child Restraints and Vehicles</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493743</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project developed fit envelopes representing the space occupied by small, medium, and large rear-facing and forward-facing child restraints that can be used as tools for promoting compatibility between vehicles and child restraints. The approach applies the envelope method used by the International Standards Organization (ISO) to the US market, by considering the range of child restraint sizes in the 2014 US market and the more commonly used method of installation with flexible LATCH. Thirty-one child restraints representing a range of sizes, manufacturers, and product types were scanned and installed in vehicles. The installed positions of the child restraints were measured in ten late model vehicles. A comparison of the installed positions of the child restraints in vehicles was done virtually using Hypermesh. Starting with the envelope geometries used by the ISO, envelope shapes were modified to represent small, medium, and large rear-facing and forward-facing child restraints. When possible, envelope dimensions were harmonized with the ISO envelopes. To promote compatibility, child restraints should be able to fit in one or more applicable envelopes at an acceptable orientation when the envelope is rotated 15 degrees relative to horizontal (to represent installed orientations on a typical vehicle seat cushion angle.) To promote compatibility from the vehicle side, at least one rear-facing and one forward-facing envelope should be able to be installed in each vehicle rear seating position. Although the evaluation of fit can be performed virtually using computer-aided design, physical representations of the envelopes were also constructed. Test procedures have been drafted to describe setup of vehicles, child restraints, and the evaluation process.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Jan 2018 10:54:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493743</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Unattended Children in Cars - Radiofrequency-Based Detection to Reduce Heat Stroke Fatalities</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493742</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A sad type of incident, which predominantly happens in warm and sunny seasons, is children dying of hyperthermia inside vehicles. In the US, there are, on average, 37 heat-related fatalities per year. In about 70% of these cases, the child was either forgotten or intentionally left inside the vehicle. Temperatures rise very quickly in a car that is parked in the sun, and can reach a critical level within less than 20 minutes. Although the overall number of hyperthermia fatalities can seem relatively low compared to the overall road fatalities, the incidents are dramatic, as the victims are predominantly very young and defenseless. A sensor, integrated behind the headliner of the vehicle, uses radiofrequency (RF) signals to detect the vital signs of a child. The sensing unit emits signals in the 24 GHz ISM band and evaluates the reflected signal. The system is sensitive enough to detect the small breathing movements of a sleeping baby, and is even capable of detecting the child under difficult circumstances, such as through the sunshade of a rearward-facing child seat. Once the presence of a living being is detected, various alerts or countermeasures can be initiated. A vehicle-based sensing approach is the most promising, as it can potentially use all of the vehicle’s available infrastructure to initiate warnings or countermeasures. Further studies on warning strategies may be needed to identify the most effective and acceptable ones.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Jan 2018 10:54:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493742</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Probability of Pediatric Skull Fracture at Various Contact Velocities</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493741</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The main objective of this research was to quantify the probability of simple linear skull fracture in infants under the age of 6 months when the head contacts a rigid surface at a range of velocities. Probability was quantified by conducting drop tests using the Aprica 2.5 dummy. Other objectives of this study were: 1) to develop a methodology that can be used to relate dummy and infant cadaver head impact response; 2) to quantify the effects of dummy body orientation on head acceleration biofidelity; 3) to identify pediatric head structures that need to be modelled in a child dummy; and finally, 4) to identify a child dummy head design which is likely to provide biofidelic head acceleration over a range of impact velocities. Aprica 2.5, a 2.5 kg instrumented infant dummy was dropped from heights of 0.376 m to 3 m onto rigid plates. Isolated head and whole body dummy drop tests were conducted. Dummy head impact response, when appropriately scaled, is very similar to infant cadaver head response for rigid plate contact. Contact velocities in this study ranged from 2.3 m/s to 6.3 m/s. The probability of linear skull fracture ranges from ≤ 5% for contact velocities to ≤ 3 m/s and < 50% for contact velocities ≤ 5.5 m/s. Results confirm the validity of 5% fracture tolerance limit for CRABI – 6M dummy obtained previously through mass and material scaling. Work presented in this paper indicates that a one piece moulded dummy head, such as the one in Aprica 2.5 may preserve biofidelity over a range of impact velocities. This work provides insights for FE modelers and dummy designers about the importance of various skull model parameters. Such a dummy design with human like moments of inertia when used in conjunction with a human like head – neck connection may also provide reasonable estimates of infant head angular accelerations.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Jan 2018 10:54:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493741</guid>
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