Human Subject Kinematic Response to Low-Speed Sideswipes Involving a Truck Tractor

The kinematic response of vehicle occupants involved in tractor-to-passenger vehicle sideswipes was examined through a series of 13 crash tests. Each test vehicle and its occupants were instrumented with accelerometer arrays to measure and quantify the impact severity at various inter-vehicular angles and impact velocities. The passenger vehicle was occupied by a volunteer test subject in the driver and right-front passenger positions. The impact angle was varied between 3° and 11° to produce a sideswipe collision between the front bumper, steered wheel, and side components of the tractor and the side panels of the struck vehicle. The passenger vehicles were struck at different locations along their longitudinal axis at impact velocities between 3 mph and 11.5 mph. Accelerations were measured at the lumbar, cervicothoracic, and head regions of the driver and right-front passenger of the struck vehicle and the tractor driver. Approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) was obtained prior to the study. The volunteers included male and female occupants between 24 and 62 years of age. Snagging was observed in 11 of 13 tests. The average resultant acceleration for the driver occupants was 1.9 ± 0.6 g at the lumbar region, 2.0 ± 0.7 g at the cervicothoracic region, and 2.1 ± 0.9 g at the head. The average resultant acceleration for the right-front passenger occupants was 1.8 ± 0.7 g at the lumbar region, 2.0 ± 1.1 g at the cervicothoracic region, and 2.0 ± 0.7 g at the head. The average resultant acceleration for the tractor driver was 1.1 ± 0.8 g at the lumbar region, 1.0 ± 0.3 g at the cervicothoracic region, and 1.2 ± 0.6 g at the head. The acceleration levels experienced by the volunteers were compared to activities of daily living. Symptoms were reported by some of the test subjects (5 out of 38 exposures) and were limited to muscle soreness that resolved within a matter of a few days.