THE TRAJECTORIES OF PEDESTRIAN DUMMIES STRUCK BY CARS OF CONVENTIONAL AND MODIFIED FRONTAL DESIGNS

Preliminary studies of car impact into pedestrians are reported and these form part of a continuing investigation. The influence of the front-end configuration of cars on the trajectories of dummy pedestrians which they hit has been determined both for the front-ends of conventional cars and for experimental designs. Tests with conventional cars at nominal impact speeds of 8, 16 and 24 km/h showed that while the adult pedestrian folded over on to the bonnet before falling off, the child was knocked down. Reducing the height of the bonnet sufficiently to pick up the child causes the adult to strike the windscreen. The simplest method of reducing pedestrian injury is to adopt a front-end which provides optimum trajectories for the adult, and to provide suitable energy absorbing designs for the leading edge of the bonnet and the front face of the bumper. To pick up both child and adult dummies on the bonnet and retain them requires a sloped front-end and a device which positively lifts the child at low impact speeds. An experimental front-end and catcher has been developed for the purpose which performs satisfactorily at impact speeds up to 16 km/h.(a) /TRRL/

• Corporate Authors:

  Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)

  Wokingham, Berkshire  United Kingdom 
• Authors:
  • JEHU, V J
  • Peavson, L C
• Publication Date: 1976

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; Tables;
• Pagination: 15 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adolescents; Adults; Anthropometry; Bumpers; Crash tests; Crashes; Design; Dummies; Hoods; Injuries; Motor vehicles; Pedestrians; Speed; Traffic speed; Trajectory; Vehicle design; Vehicle front end; Vehicle trajectories
• Uncontrolled Terms: Modifications
• Old TRIS Terms: Minors
• ITRD Terms: 1618: Anthropometric dummy; 1347: Bonnet (car); 1631: Collision; 9011: Design (overall design); 1648: Impact test (crash); 2163: Injury; 9048: Modification; 1733: Pedestrian; 5408: Speed
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00142481
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: TRRL Lab. Rpt. LR718Monograph
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 19 1977 12:00AM