EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF A COMPLIANT BUMPER SYSTEM

An ordinary rigid bumper system and a compliant bumper system for pedestrian protection developed by the NHTSA, US Department of Transportation, were compared in an experimental study of leg injuries in car-pedestrian accidents. Human leg specimens were struck in 20 experiments with a production car front using the two bumper types. Impacts were made with an ordinary front configuration with the bumpers at the 45 cm level and a 12.5 cm lower front configuration with the bumpers at the 32.5 cm level. The impact velocity was 30-32 km/h. Serious leg injuries were noted with both front configurations and bumper types. The compliant bumper seemed to cause less serious injuries than the rigid one, and the lower front configuration seemed to cause less serious injuries than the ordinary one. A lower bumper level than today's standard and a compliant bumper type is recommended in combination to reduce the risk of serious leg injuries in car-pedestrian accidents. For the covering abstract of the conference see HS-036 716. (Author/TRRL)

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Twenty-Seventh Stapp Car Crash Conference Proceedings (P-134) with International Research Committee on Biokinetics of Impacts (IRCOBI), San Diego, California, October 17-19, 1983.
• Corporate Authors:

  Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

  400 Commonwealth Drive
  Warrendale, PA  United States  15096
• Authors:
  • BUNKETORP, O
  • Romanus, B
  • Hansson, T
  • ALDMAN, B
  • THORNGREN, L
  • EPPINGER, R H
• Conference:
  • Twenty-Seventh Stapp Car Crash Conference Proceeding (P-134) with International Research Committee on Biokinetics of Impacts (IRCOBI), San Diego, California, October 17-19, 1983.
• Publication Date: 1983

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 287-298

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bumpers; Conferences; Crash injury research; Crash severity; Crash tests; Design; Height; Injuries; Injury severity; Knee; Leg; Pedestrian safety; Pedestrians; Prevention; Speed; Stiffness; Vehicle design
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Old TRIS Terms: Pedestrian protection
• ITRD Terms: 1352: Bumper; 8525: Conference; 9011: Design (overall design); 6489: Height; 2163: Injury; 2013: Knee (human); 2023: Leg (human); 1733: Pedestrian; 9149: Prevention; 1623: Severity (accid, injury); 5408: Speed; 5931: Stiffness; 8122: USA
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00387095
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Institute for Road Safety Research, SWOV
• Report/Paper Numbers: SAE 831623, HS-036 737
• Files: HSL, ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 30 1984 12:00AM