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Factors influencing neck loading in rollover events were identified in a series of spit tests where vehicles were inverted. Drivers included both male and female human volunteers, as well as seated standard and standing pedestrian 50th percentile anthropomorphic dummies. The passenger sides of the vehicles were rotated down first, simulating the most dangerous rotation for the driver, a far-side roll. The variables investigated during the spit tests included body shape, pre-roll body position and vertical seat velocity. Conditions causing shoulder belt webbing to pass through to the lap belt were investigated together with the corresponding body kinematics. Early in the far-side rolls, the belt tended to slip off the shoulder and the slack was immediately passed through to the lap belt, increasing body excursion toward the roof. An alert position (i.e. sitting more upright prior to the roll) increased the body excursion in the roll and, correspondingly, the risk of neck injury.

As passenger-side airbags are introduced into the vehicle fleet, consideration must be given to the possible interaction of the airbag with children and child restraint systems. Specifically, a rear-facing infant seat may represent an out-of-position occupanVrestraint system in relation to the deploying airbag due to the limited distance between the infant seat and the instrument panel. Current safety standards for child restraints do not address this issue and the potential for serious injury mandates further analysis. Simulation studies can assist in understanding the behavior of such interaction and help to reduce the number of tests to evaluate infant seat performance. New developments in simulation technology offer state-of-the-art tools to simulate a deploying airbag using a finite element model while the occupant, infant seat and vehicle interior are simulated with linked rigid body systems.