Pre-crash investigation using a driving simulator and numerical analyses to determine the influence of the arms positions

This paper presents an approach to analyze drivers' behaviours during critical events using a driving simulator and to estimate the dynamic responses of drivers by means of numerical simulation. The first part of this work is to present the experimental results obtained from 35 subject responses. A scenario of an unavoidable crash is created in the simulator-based experiment. All drivers swerved away in order to avoid the truck heading straight towards them. It was observed that 30% of the subjects placed their left hand at the right side of the steering wheel. In the second part, five classes of driver pre-crash behaviours are defined and then analyzed with Madymo®. The load applied to the virtual dummy corresponded to the deceleration undergone by a car during a head-on collision at 50 km/h. The results of the simulation emphasized a critical situation which could lead to a mortal traumatism.