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INVESTIGATING REAL-WORLD CRASHES : AN INTERVIEW WITH UMTRI'S CRASH INVESTIGATOR, JOEL MACWILLIAMS

This article gives a look into the research efforts conducted at the University of Michigan Research Institute (UMTRI) Crash Investigation Team which has as its objective to understand the causes of different types of injuries in different types of crashes for vehicles equipped with the latest safety technology. The crash investigation team annually looks at close to 6000 police accident reports, and from this group, selects 100-150 crashes for in-depth investigation. Researchers look for patterns between injuries and crash factors. Parameters such as crash severity, restraint usage, impact type, age, gender, and pre-existing medical conditions are considered to be the most relevant to injury causation. While the same data is collected and examined for every crash, the focus changes with the crash type. The article also briefly describes the event data recorder (EDR) which primarily serves to decide whether to deploy airbags, but also provides various significant data, such as vehicle speed before and during impact, the ignition cycle at airbag deployment, whether seat belts were used, or if warning lights were displayed on the dashboard.

  • Availability:
  • Supplemental Notes:
    • January-March 2002
  • Corporate Authors:

    University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute

    2901 Baxter Road
    Ann Arbor, MI  United States  48109-2150
  • Publication Date: 2002-1

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Features: Photos;
  • Pagination: p. 7-9
  • Serial:
    • UMTRI Research Review
    • Volume: 33
    • Issue Number: 1
    • Publisher: University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
    • ISSN: 0739-7100

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00962216
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
  • Files: BTRIS, TRIS
  • Created Date: Sep 2 2003 12:00AM