Biomechanical Analysis and Injury Prevention in Off-Highway Vehicular Crashes

Traffic safety has significantly improved over the past several decades reducing injury and fatality rates. However, there is a paucity of research effort directed to address the safety issues in off-highway vehicular crashes, specifically the all terrain/utility vehicular crashes. Rollover crashes are severe accidents leading to the increase in fatalities and injuries. The appropriate safety measures to contain occupants in vehicular compartments are crucial in mitigating injuries in rollover crashes. The purpose of this study is to delineate the occupant kinematics in simulated rollover conditions and to evaluate the injury prevention aspects. Two utility/all terrain vehicles were used. Each vehicle was placed on the motorized test equipment in the laboratory. The motorized dynamic rollover test equipment simulated the rollover environment in a controlled manner. Human surrogate models representing 1th percentile female, 50th percentile male and 96th percentile male were utilized in the testing. The multi-phase dynamic testing was conducted to quantify the occupant kinematic responses in foreseeable real world conditions. A total of 39 tests were conducted. The vehicle with belted surrogates was rolled 90 degrees at a roll rate up to 45 degrees/second. The excursion of the head, upper extremity and lower extremities beyond the plane of the vehicular structure was measured and compared between the two vehicles using two onboard cameras and three off-board cameras. Results show that the advanced restraint system with the occupant containment feature significantly reduced the occupant excursion. Such a significant reduction of occupant movement will better protect occupants in rollover off-highway accidents.