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There are established federal requirements and industry standards for frontal crash testing of motor vehicles. Consistently applied methods support reliability, repeatability, and comparability of performance metrics between tests and platforms. However, real world collisions are rarely identical to standard test protocols. This study examined the effects of occupant anthropometry and passive restraint deployment timing on occupant kinematics and biomechanical loading in a moderate-severity (approximately 30 kph delta-V) offset frontal crash scenario. An offset, front-to-rear vehicle-to-vehicle crash test was performed, and the dynamics of the vehicle experiencing the frontal collision were replicated in a series of three sled tests. Crash test and sled test vehicle kinematics were comparable. A standard or reduced-weight 50th percentile male Hybrid III ATD (H3-50M) or a standard 5th percentile female Hybrid III ATD (H3-5F) was belted in the driver’s seating position.

With commercial availability of the Bosch Crash Data Retrieval Tool (CDR), the information stored in vehicle Event Data Recorders (EDRs) has increasingly been used to supplement traditional traffic crash data collection and reconstruction methods, allowing enhanced confidence levels in transportation safety research. The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy and reliability of EDR data images obtained with the Bosch CDR tool by comparing them to a known crash impulse. Multiple EDRs and necessary sensor arrays were mounted on a HYGE™ acceleration-type crash simulation sled system at various orientations representing different principal direction of force (PDOF) angles and subjected to controlled “crash” impulses, simulating a “deployment event” (DE) and triggering data to be saved in the EDRs. The data included in each EDR's CDR report was compared to the known conditions of the impulse.