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A Sled Test Procedure Proposal to Evaluate the Risk of Neck Injury in Low-Speed Rear Impacts Using a New Neck Injury Criterion (Nic)
Technical Paper
986154
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
Today''s cars do not sufficiently prevent neck injuries
in rear-end impacts. So-called whiplash injuries are often
sustained at low velocities. According to Swedish road casualty
statistics, the risk for whiplash injuries increases dramatically
with the velocity change (Δv) of the impacted car in the interval
between 10-20 km/h. During recent years, much progress has been
made in research concerning this issue. This includes new findings
from injury statistics, better knowledge of injury mechanisms (even
if they are not yet fully understood) and development of suitable
rear-impact dummies.
This paper describes a new sled test procedure involving two
levels of rear-impact severity. In the proposed procedure, a new
neck injury criterion (NIC) which is a measure of the effect of
violence to the neck, is used to evaluate the level of neck
protection.
Seats, from two cars with different neck injury-risk rating
(according to Swedish statistics), have been tested according to
the new procedure and compared with a new seat concept. The results
indicate that a seat back with a low yielding limit has a lower
risk of neck injury, which is reflected in lower NIC values.