Citation

Stammen J, Ko B. Accid. Reconstr. J. 2003; 14(3): 27-42.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Accident Reconstruction Journal)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Honda R&D has recently designed an advanced pedestrian dummy (Polar II) that has biomechanical data incorporated into the design of its components. This prototype dummy was made available for developmental testing with the HYGE Impact Simulator. Two Pedestrian Crash Data Study cases, involving a low (1999 Honda Civic) and a high (1991 Chevrolet Silverado) front-end profile, were selected from for crash reconstruction using the Polar II dummy. Objectives of the project were to develop a full-scale pedestrian sled test procedure that can incorporate different vehicle models and replicate vehicle damage patterns; evaluate the trajectories of head, knee, pelvis and foot for different pedestrian stances in response to low and high vehicle impacts; compare dummy measurements with case injuries and human injury tolerances; and evaluate durability of the dummy and its utility for reconstructing actual pedestrian accidents. Findings showed that the Polar II dummy is a promising test device, but it seems that it currently remains a satisfactory device for evaluating only certain vehicle designs in certain situations for pedestrian aggressiveness. The global use of the device for evaluating other designs such as high profile pickup trucks remains unclear based on these tests. In terms of reconstructing cases with the Polar II dummy, it seems that we can get close to what happened in the accident, but it will be very difficult to match a case exactly by using the dummy due to issues with the dummy, as well as uncertainties in the case information.