Realistically, the only way to significantly improve the
pedestrian injury situation is by separation of the vehicle and
pedestrian population to prevent collision occurring, since injury
to a pedestrian is inevitable if hit by a car travelling at even
low speeds.
However, it is important to assess the contribution that vehicle
design characteristics can make to minimise the consequences of
such collisions for a variety of pedestrian types, and to establish
the various vehicle parameters that can influence pedestrian
injury.
This paper describes the initial stages of an investigation into
these parameters by means of computer simulation.
First, the joint, inertia, and contact characteristics of a 50th
percentile adult dummy and a 6-year-old child dummy were
established by tests. The contact characteristics of a range of car
fronts were also determined from pendulum tests at speeds of 24 and
40km/h. A vehicle-pedestrian interaction model was then
established, and simulations of previously staged tests were
carried out by means of the Calspan Crash Victim Simulation (CVS)
program. This paper shows the comparison between tests and
simulations for adult and child representations with a range of
front end parameters. The particular effects of the various
parameters are also discussed.