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The Safety Performance of Production Vehicles in Side Impacts
Technical Paper
856081
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has
tested 12 current production cars in a series of controlled side
impacts. As measured by the impact responses of NHTSA side impact
dummies, the cars were found to vary dramatically in their
capability to provide occupant protection. For the median-aged
side-struck occupant, the potential for serious thoracic injury was
found to range from a low of 9 percent for the 4-door AMC Concord
to a high of 97 percent for the 2-door Nissan Sentra.
This paper investigates these differences in safety performance
and reports those vehicle design parameters that are key to
thoracic side impact protection. From the available data, the study
concludes that the design parameter most crucial to occupant
protection in side impacts is the Door Effective Padding Thickness
(DEPTH).