IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION AND RECONSTRUCTION OF AN AIR BAG INDUCED CHILD FATALITY

A minor rear-end collision resulted in the death of a four-year old child, occupying the right-front seat of the striking vehicle. The child was restrained by means of a lap belt, the shoulder portion of the belt system having been placed behind the child's back. The child was leaning forward, when the vehicle's brakes were suddenly applied, just prior to the crash. The passenger air bag deployed and the child sustained fatal neck injuries. The case incident was subject to an in-depth collision investigation. Physical evidence associated with the crash, combined with witness statements, and medical data, enabled the vehicle dynamics, occupant kinematics, and occupant contract points to be accurately determined. The collision was subsequently reconstructed using an instrumented child dummy and static deployment of exemplar air bags. A car to rigid barrier dynamic test was also conducted. High-speed film and video recordings of the tests revealed that even minor changes in the position of the dummy had considerable effect on the post-deployment kinematics. Combining the experience gained from a number of such trials, the real-world event was successfully reconstructed in the laboratory. (A) For the covering abstract see IRRD E102514.

• Record URL:
  http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/esv/16th/
• Corporate Authors:

  National Highway Safety Advisory Committee

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • GERMAN, A DALMOTAS
• Conference:
  • 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles
  • Location: Windsor Ontario, Canada
  • Date: 1998-5-31 to 1998-6-4
• Publication Date: 1998-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 1126-34
• Serial:
  • Volume: 2
  • Issue Number: DOT HS 808 759

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air bags; Anthropometry; Children; Crash reconstruction; Dummies; Fatalities; Rear end crashes
• ITRD Terms: 1465: Air bag (restraint system); 1618: Anthropometric dummy; 1758: Child; 1602: Fatality; 1620: Rear end collision; 1621: Reconstruction (accid)
• Subject Areas: Research; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00781023
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD, USDOT
• Created Date: Jan 7 2000 12:00AM