Citation

Watanabe R, Miyazaki H, Kitagawa Y, Yasuki T. Accid. Reconstr. J. 2012; 22(1): 31-40.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Accident Reconstruction Journal)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article uses the human finite element model THUMS Version 4 to investigate the collision speed dependency of pedestrian head and chest injuries. The researchers also considered the relationship between impact speed and fatality risk. The biofidelity of the THUMS pedestrian model was verified in terms of body region components and the whole body based on findings from the literature. The validated THUMS model was used to examine the relationship of head and chest injuries with collision speed. Collisions between a pedestrian and a sport-utility vehicle were analyzed at three collision speeds: 30, 40, and 50 km/h. The analysis revealed that head injuries did not occur at the lowest collision speed, but that a serious brain injury did occur at the 40 and 50 km/h collision speeds. At 40 km/h, bone fractures in the ribs occurred, and at 50 km/h, the significant number of bone fractures in the ribs caused serious injuries to internal organs. Chest injuries did not occur at the 30 km/h collision speed. These findings are consistent with trends in accident data that suggest that the fatality risk for pedestrians increases when the collision speed is 40 km/h or higher.