Human Head Linear and Angular Accelerations During Impact

Head linear and angular accelerations of humans were investigated during exposure to abrupt linear deceleration (-G_x). The 14 subjects were restrained with three different restraints: lap belt only, Air Force shoulder harness-lap belt and air bag plus lap belt. Peak sled decelerations ranged from 7.7-10.3 g.

The results indicated that peak head angular and linear resultant accelerations were elevated with the air bag in contrast to the Air Force shoulder harness or lap belt only restraints. However, the peak angular and linear accelerations may have less traumatic consequences than the degree of head-neck hyperextension.