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The objectives of this study were to provide insights on how injury risk is influenced by occupant demographics such as sex, age, and size; and to quantify differences within the context of commonly-occurring real-world crashes. The analyses were confined to either single-event collisions or collisions that were judged to be well-defined based on the absence of any significant secondary impacts. These analyses, including both logistic regression and descriptive statistics, were conducted using the Crash Investigation Sampling System for calendar years 2017 to 2021. In the case of occupant sex, the findings agree with those of many recent investigations that have attempted to quantify the circumstances in which females show elevated rates of injury relative to their male counterparts given the same level bodily insult. This study, like others, provides evidence of certain female-specific injuries.

A small overlap frontal crash test has been recently introduced by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in its frontal rating scheme. Another small overlap frontal crash test is under development by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Whereas the IIHS test is conducted against a fixed rigid barrier, the NHTSA test is conducted with a moving deformable barrier that overlaps 35% of the vehicle being tested and the angle between the longitudinal axis of the barrier and the longitudinal axis of the test vehicle is 15 degrees. The field relevance of the IIHS test has been the subject of a paper by Prasad et al. (2014). The current study is aimed at examining the field relevance of the NHTSA test.

Drawing on recent Canadian field collision investigations and crash testing using the SIDIIs dummy, the field experience and crash performance of side-mounted airbag systems are reviewed. All of the inflatable technologies tested demonstrated the ability to greatly reduce head injury potential. Further improvements to the design of inflatable head protection devices are required to better ensure they contain and protect the head of occupants seated in locations forward of the mid seat track. New moving deformable barrier designs, such as the one recently developed by the IIHS, appear to offer significant advantages over designs currently used to regulate side impact protection. Improving the level of protection against chest injury to car occupants in SUV-to-car side impacts represents a significant challenge.

Detailed knowledge of the load paths at the vehicle/dummy interface in side impact crash tests is an essential component in the evaluation of side impact protection systems. In the laboratory, measurements of the external crush and occupant compartment intrusion profiles may be made with great precision. Recent advances in portable electronic measurement instruments have resulted in such procedures also being possible in the field. This paper describes the use of a total station to obtain these data for real-world side impact collisions. This information is likely to provide additional insight into specific injury mechanisms in such crashes.

As a consequence of various federal and provincial initiatives to promote the use of seat belts in Canada, the wearing rate of seat belts among front outboard passenger car occupants is now estimated at 90 percent. Accordingly, the vast majority of air bag deployments in Canada involve restrained occupants. In order to gain a better understanding of the field performance of air bag systems, Transport Canada recently initiated an m-depth study of motor vehicle collisions involving air bag deployments. To date, investigations have been completed on 242 such collisions. While the preliminary data suggest that supplementary air bag systems provide considerable added protection against serious head injuries in moderate and high severity frontal crashes, they also suggest that, in low severity crashes, deployment of an air bag system may expose belted occupants to unnecessary injury risk from the air bag itself.

Currently, one of the major challenges for automotive engineers is to provide additional protection to motor vehicle occupants involved in side-impact collisions. A considerable amount of research is being conducted into this problem by governments and motor vehicle manufacturers on a worldwide basis. Changes to the current safety standards relating to side impact protection have been proposed in both North America and Europe. The proposed standards involve the use of dummies in collisions between a moving barrier and a stationary test vehicle. A total of 22 side impact tests of production vehicles have been completed to date to assess the appropriateness of the test procedures developed in the U.S. and Europe in the context of the Canadian vehicle mix and associated side impact accident problem. Vehicle performance rankings provided by the two test procedures were found to vary greatly.