The Use of Photogrammetry and Video Films in the Evaluation of Passenger Compartment Measurement and Occupant-Vehicle Contacts

The evaluation of new safety systems in cars is based not only of the accident severity and type, but also on the behaviour of the interior of the vehicle in terms of intrusion and other interior deformations. It is also essential that contact points can be found explaining injuries to occupants and also showing possible restraint use.

It is however complicated to measure interior deformations, especially in three dimensions and with non-specialists going out to the crashed car. It is also complicated to find contact points for non-specialists not always knowing the injuries of the occupants at the time of the interior inspection of a crashed car.

In this paper, methods for distant evaluation of crashed car interiors with photogrammetrical and video cameras allowing three dimensional measurements and the possibility to judge interior contacts. With such methods, data collection can be performed by non-specialists with a high quality of the analysis. The methods are presented with examples in real life, and the measurements of car interiors, especially steering wheel displacement, are shown.