RESTRAINT SYSTEM EFFECTIVENESS- A STUDY OF FATAL ACCIDENTS

THIS PAPER DESCRIBES A STUDY OF FIELD ACCIDENT DATA THAT FOCUSES ON ONE MEASURE OF EFFECTIVENESS, I. E., THE POTENTIAL TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF FATALITIES OCCURRING TODAY. ACCIDENTS INVOLVING OVER SEVEN HUNDRED FATALLY INJURED OCCUPANTS IN 1967 TO 1972 CARS WERE EXAMINED CASE BY CASE AND OCCUPANT BY OCCUPANT IN AN ATTEMPT TO ASSIGN THE FATALITY REDUCTION POTENTIAL OF TWO CANDIDATE RESTRAINT SYSTEMS: LAP BELT ALONE; AIR CUSHION PLUS LAP BELT. THE PRIMARY RESULTS OF THIS FIELD ACCIDENT STUDY ARE AS FOLLOWS: (1) IF ALL THE FATALITIES HAD BEEN WEARING A LAP BELT, 17% COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED; (2) IF ALL FATALITIES HAD BEEN WEARING A LAP AND SHOULDER BELT, 31% COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED; (3) IF ALL THE CARS HAD BEEN EQUIPPED WITH AIR CUSHIONS, 18% OF THE FATAL- ITIES COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED; (4) IF ALL THE CARS HAD BEEN EQUIPPED WITH AIR CUSHIONS, AND ALL THE FATALITIES HAD BEEN WEARING A LAP BELT, 29% COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED. FATALITY RE- DUCTION IS IMPORTANT. PROJECTING THESE RESULTS TO THE REAL WORLD, HOWEVER, IS A COMPLEX PROCESS INFLUENCED BY FACTORS SUCH AS CURRENT BELT USAGE, THE EFFECT OF BELT USAGE INCEN- TIVES, AIR CUSHION INTRODUCTION, TIMETABLE EFFECTS, INJURY REDUCTION, THE POSSIBILITY THAT VARIOUS RESTRAINT SYSTEMS CAN CAUSE INJURIES, COST OF THE VARIOUS SYSTEMS, AND DOLLAR BENEFITS OF INJURY AND FATALITY REDUCTION. A COMPANION PAPER TAKES THIS FATALITY CASE STUDY AS A STARTING POINT TO DEVEL- OP AN OVERALL, NATIONWIDE, BENEFIT COMPARISON OF VARIOUS RESTRAINT SYSTEM CONCEPTS.

• Corporate Authors:

  Automotive Safety Seminar

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Wilson, R A
  • Savage, C M
• Publication Date: 1973-6

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 68 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Constraints; Crashes; Fatalities; Injuries; Manual safety belts
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222253
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 17 1973 12:00AM