INJURY PATTERNS OF FATALLY IMPACTED CAR FRONT PASSENGERS IN REGARD TO THE THREE-POINT SEAT BELT AND RELATED OCCUPANT INJURY MODES. RESTRAINT TECHNOLOGIES: FRONT SEAT OCCUPANT PROTECTION. AN INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS AND EXPOSITION, DETROIT, MICHIGAN, USA, FEBRUARY 23-27, 1987

At the institute of forensic medicine of the university of heidelberg, post-mortems were performed on 117 victims who died in car crashes in the period from August 1, 1984 until July 31, 1986. This period was the initial two years of the seat belt law in the Federal republic of Germany requiring front seat car passengers to wear safety belts or be fined. The increased usage of safety belts from approximately 50% to about 94% was found to change injury patterns significantly. Injury patterns of belt-wearing occupants were found to differ markedly from those of unbelted passengers provided the passenger compartment remained uncompromised. A belted driver or front seat passenger in a frontal collision environment, sustains mostly trunk injuries whereas the same type of collision in the non-belted occupant involves head, lower and upper limbs, and pelvis. When legal aspects are involved, the medicolegal community is called upon more and more to answer two questions: (1) did the occupant wear a seat belt? And (2) what influence on the injury pattern would a correctly worn seat belt restraint have had?(Author/TRRL)

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0898839610
• Corporate Authors:

  Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

  400 Commonwealth Drive
  Warrendale, PA  United States  15096
• Authors:
  • Schmidt, G
• Publication Date: 1987-2

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 53-59
• Serial:
  • Publication of: Transport 2000 Limited
  • Publisher: Transport 2000 Limited

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Biophysics; Conferences; Deformation; Fatalities; Head; Injuries; Injury severity; Legislation; Manual safety belts; Thorax; Vehicle occupants
• Uncontrolled Terms: Causes; Front; Head injuries; Modifications; Use
• Geographic Terms: Germany
• ITRD Terms: 2060: Biomechanics; 9003: Cause; 8525: Conference; 5595: Deformation; 1602: Fatality; 9025: Front; 8125: Germany; 2163: Injury; 1556: Legislation; 9048: Modification; 1476: Safety belt; 1623: Severity (accid, injury); 9084: Use; 1715: Vehicle occupant
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Passenger Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00480255
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Institute for Road Safety Research, SWOV
• ISBN: 0-89883-961-0
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 31 1989 12:00AM