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Airbag induced injuries to front seated infants and children have resulted in US government recommendations that suggest, among other things, the placement of children into the rear seat area of motor vehicles. During a rear impact, however, most conventional automotive front seats occupied by adults will collapse into the rear seat area. This exposes the rear-seated children to other risks of injuries. Rearward load strength tests run on a wide variety of commercially available automotive front seat systems, such as the single or dual sided recliner types and the stronger belt integrated types, demonstrate a wide range of occupant load resistance. Digital human simulation offers a cost effective, efficient, and accurate means for predicting occupant response and interactions influenced by various types of non-linear deforming seat systems, as well as various types of restraints, and vehicle interior structures.

Current transportation safety interests involving the use of restraints in school buses, coupled with litigation claims arising from injuries to unrestrained occupants of school buses involved in rollovers, resulted in a study aimed at: understanding the biomechanical response and injury causing factors associated with unrestrained students involved in an actual school bus roll-over accident; and, comparing the unrestrained response condition to the hypothetical response if the students were lap belt restrained in the same rollover. A numerical occupant simulation computer code was used to input vehicle rollover motion to both belted and unbelted occupants. The unrestrained case theoretically duplicated the injury producing conditions that led to serious head and neck injury in certain students.