Citation

Cuerden RW, Hill J, Kirk A, Mackay GM. Proc. IRCOBI 2001; 29: 323-334.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, International Research Council on Biomechanics of Injury)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study quantifies the effectiveness of current European car driver restraint systems in frontal crashes, notably steering wheel mounted airbags and seat belts (some pretensioned) compared to the previous generation of vehicles fitted with standard lap and diagonal seat belts alone. This data is then used to analyze and predict the potential effectiveness in terms of injury mitigation of future adaptive restraints for frontal impacts only. Adaptive restraint systems were found to be likely to provide up to 41% and 25% reductions in Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (MAIS) 2+ and MAIS 3+ injury respectively, when compared with the previous generation of vehicles with seat belted drivers only. The study presents a method to predict the potential benefits of a change in vehicle restraint technology based on the UK's current injury car crash population. However, the project does not specify the technical criteria or details of such a future adaptive restraint system.