Citation

Rebelle J. Int. J. Crashworthiness 2015; 20(4): 348-369.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13588265.2015.1015362

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study concerns the development of an experimental method intended to estimate the effectiveness of restraint systems for forklift truck drivers during a lateral tip-over.Tests performed on human subjects placed in situations of partial lateral tip-over were used to modify a HYBRID III dummy and to validate its performance. Another more realistic test setup was used to simulate a 90° lateral tip-over and assess the effectiveness of market restraint systems. The results show that systems that kept the dummy inside the cab (door-bar systems, seat-belt, etc.) would considerably increase the driver's chances of survival. Conversely, other poorly dimensioned equipment might not block the dummy's movement or might break. Head injury criteria (HIC15) calculation gave values lower than the threshold of 560 that was set in our approach for impacts inside the cab, whereas our assessments showed that impacts with the ground could be very serious or fatal.