title: Car occupant safety in frontal crashes: a parameter study of vehicle mass, impact speed, and inherent vehicle protection.
abstract: A new mathematical model was developed to estimate average injury and fatality rates in frontal car-to-car crashes for changes in vehicle fleet mass, impact speed distribution, and inherent vehicle protection. The estimates were calculated from injury fatality risk data, delta-V distribution and collision probability of two vehicles, where delta V-depends on impact speed and mass of the colliding vehicles. The impact speed distribution was assumed to be unaffected by a change in fleet mass distribution. The results showed that safety in frontal crashes would improve 27-35% by a 10% increase in fatality risk parameters, which reflected substantial improvement in inherent vehicle protection. A 40% safety improvement was attained by a 10% impact speed reduction. Consequences of vehicle fleet mass were not as strong, but depended on the average mass ratio of the fleet. A reduction in mass range would be the most beneficial, while a uniform mass reduction of 20% would increase the fatality rate by 5.4%. The model estimates trends in traffic safety and may help to identify priorities in active and passive safety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Injury Prevention, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Buzeman
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Viano
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lövsund
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality*; D001336:Automobiles / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011336:Probability; D012306:Risk; D012449:Safety; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality*