IMPACT INJURY TOLERANCES OF INFANTS AND CHILDREN IN FEE-FALL

FREE-FALL WORK IS REPORTED WHICH WAS STUDIED TO PROVIDE SOME DATA RELATIVE TO CHILD IMPACT TOLERANCES WHICH MAY BE APPLIED TO THE DESIGN OF IMPROVED PROTECTION OF CHILD OCCUPANTS IN AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLES. ACCIDENTAL TRAUMA RECEIVED IN FREE-FALL IMPACTS BY INFANTS AND CHILDREN OFFER ONE MEANS OF ASSESSING THE FULL RANGE OF TOLERANCE TO ABRUPT DECELERATION UNAVAILABLE BY EITHER CLINICAL, EXPERIMENTAL, OR MODELING STUDIES ALONE. EACH CASE MUST BE INTENSIVLEY INVESTIGATED FOR BOTH PHYSICAL FACTORS AND RESULTING MEDICAL SEQUELAE. COMPUTER ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS COLLECTED FREE-FALL INJURY STATISTICS OF 3,153 CHILDREN BETWEEN AGES 1-12 WERE ANALYZED BUT FOUND UNSATISFACTORY FOR IMPACT ANALYSIS BECAUSE NOT ALL VARIABLES WERE KNOWN OR COULD BE VERIFIED FOR EACH CASE. HOWEVER, IMPACT DATA ON 34 CASES OF FREE-FALL IMPACT WHICH HAD BEEN INTENSIVELY INVESTIGATED IN CHILDREN AGED 8 MONTHS TO 12 YEARS ARE REPORTED AS AN INITIAL BASIS FOR ESTIMATING CHILD IMPACT TOLERANCES. THESE ARE THE FIRST INSTANCES WHERE BOTH PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS AND BIOMEDICAL ANALYSIS WERE CONCURRENTLY CONDUCTED ON CHILDREN. A CORRECTION TO THE STANDARD FORMULA FOR CALCULATION OF VELOCITY IN FREE-FALL IS PROVIDED TO MORE ACCURATELY ESTIMATE AIR RESISTANCE EFFECTS UPON CLOTHED CHILDREN AGE 1, 6, AND 12 YEARS. INITIAL BODY ORIENTATION AT IMPACT IS A MAJOR FACTOR IN CHILD IMPACT SURVIVAL, PARTICULARLY AS IT INFLUENCED HEAD INJURY. INJURIES IN LATERAL, PRONE AND SUPINE POSITIONS OCCURRED AT LOW VELOCITIES, MOST FREQUENTLY RESULTING IN BRAIN TRAUMA. IN FIVE CASES OF EXTREME LATERAL OR TRANSVERSE IMPACT ORIENTATION (SUCH AS A CHILD AUTOMOTIVE OCCUPANT MIGHT BE EXPOSED TO) ESTIMATES OF G FORCES RANGING FROM 35.8 TO 159G, TIME DURATION OF IMPACT OF 0.02 TO 0.006 SECONDS, PRESSURE OF 32.6 TO 63.6 PSI, AT VELOCITIES OF 24 TO 51 FT/SEC WERE RECORDED. THESE ESTIMATES DATA MAY BE AVAILABLE FOR INFANT AND CHILD IMPACT TOLERANCE.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • pp 131-164, 5 FIG, 10 TAB, 36 REF
• Authors:
  • Snyder, R G
• Publication Date: 1969-10-16

Media Info

• Serial:
  • American Association for Auto Medicine, Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adolescents; Crash injury research; Crash tests; Free fall; Gravity; Impacts; Injuries; Shock resistance; Traffic crashes; Vehicle occupants
• Uncontrolled Terms: Impact strength; Motor vehicle accidents
• Old TRIS Terms: Minors
• Subject Areas: Highways; Passenger Transportation; Research; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00220941
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 21 1970 12:00AM