Assessment of Impact Severity in Minor Motor Vehicle Collisions

Objectives

To categorize common types of minor collisions, relate vehicle motion from minor collisions to various descriptors of impact severity, and to review the relevance of impact severity to the potential for injury in different minor collision types.

Findings

Descriptors of impact severity for a vehicle in a collision include velocity change [ΔV], equivalent barrier speed [EBS], peak acceleration, and vibration dose value [VDV]. Impact severity in terms of ΔV and EBS can be deduced from vehicle damage. Based on responses of human volunteers who were present in staged-collision tests, correlations were made between the various descriptors of impact severity and human volunteer response. Minor, short duration symptoms occur in rear-end collisions at the 8 km/h ΔV level; symptoms are not observed in frontal or lateral collisions until about 2 to 3 times this level. In rear end collisions the 8 km/h ΔV level can sometimes be achieved without vehicle damage.

Conclusions

Impact severity appears to be an influential variable in minor automobile collisions. Responses of volunteers in minor collisions indicate that symptoms are non-existent in very minor impacts, 22and worsen as severity is increased. Other variables are seat type, posture, gender, age and physical condition. [Article copies available from The Haworth Document Delivety Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: getinfo@haworth.com]