AN ANALYSIS OF NCAP SIDE IMPACT CRASH DATA

Since 1990, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has implemented a dynamic side impact compliance test. This compliance test, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No 214, is a nearly right angle side impact in which the striking vehicle moves at 53.6 kmph into the struck vehicle. In 1997, NHTSA began testing passenger cars in side impact in the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). In the USA NCAP side impact, the striking vehicle is towed at a 8 kmph higher speed than in the compliance test. An analysis has begun on the data from the first NCAP side impact tests, thirty-two in number. In the crashes, accelerometers were installed in the door and door frames of the struck vehicle. Using the accelerometers on the vehicle structure and in the side impact dummy, the crash event was investigated. One tool used in the investigaiton was the velocity-versus-time-diagram. First, the crush of the interior door and its relationship to the severity of the occupant injury readings was examined. A correlation was found between the single independent variable, amount of the interior door crushed by the occupant, and the Thoracic Trauma Index. Second, the data was examined to determine the extent to which the pelvis of the dummy was loaded initially before loading the torso. A weaker correlation was found between the time duration (that the pelvis was loaded before the torso) and the Thoracic Trauma Index. Finally, the effect of the two independent variables together was examined. (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:
  • CHAN, H HACKNEY
• 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. 2490-502
• Serial:
  • Issue Number: DOT HS 808 759

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobiles; Crash tests; Evaluation and assessment; Mathematical analysis; Safety; Side crashes; Test procedures
• ITRD Terms: 6471: Analysis (math); 1243: Car; 9020: Evaluation (assessment); 1648: Impact test (crash); 1665: Safety; 1630: Side impact; 6288: Test method
• Subject Areas: Research; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00788337
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD, USDOT
• Created Date: Mar 3 2000 12:00AM