| Pedestrian Safety Through Vehicle Design |
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ANATOMY OF A PEDESTRIAN CRASH Most pedestrian crashes involve a forward moving car. In such a crash, a standing or walking pedestrian is struck and accelerated to the speed of the car and then continues forward as the car brakes to a halt. Although the pedestrian is impacted twice, first by the car and then by the ground, most of the fatal injuries occur due to the interaction with the car. Thus vehicle designers usually focus their attention on understanding the car-pedestrian interaction, which is characterized by the following sequence of events: the vehicle bumper first contacts the Lower Limb s of the pedestrian, the leading edge of the hood hits the upper Thigh or Pelvis , and the Head and upper Torso are struck by the top surface of the hood and/or windshield . REDUCING PEDESTRIAN INJURIES Most pedestrians die due to the Traumatic Brain Injury resulting from the hard impact of the head against the stiff hood or windshield . In addition, although usually non-fatal, injuries to the lower limb (usually to the knee joint and long bones) are the most common cause of disability due to pedestrian crashes. Protecting the head The hood of most vehicles is usually fabricated from sheet metal, which is a compliant energy absorbing structure and thus poses a comparatively small threat. Most serious head injuries occur when there is insufficient clearance between the hood and the stiff-underlying engine components. A gap of approximately 10 cm is usually enough to allow the pedestrian’s head to have a controlled Deceleration and a significantly reduced risk of death . Creating room under the hood is not always easy because usually there are other design constraints, such as aerodynamics and styling. In some regions of the hood it can be impossible. These include along the edges on which the hood is mounted and the cowl, where the hood meets the windshield. Engineers have attempted to overcome this problem by using Deformable mounts, and by developing more ambitious solutions such as airbags that are activated during the crash and cover the stiff regions of the hood . Protecting the limbs Most limb injuries occur due to a direct blow from the bumper and the leading edge of the hood. This leads to contact fractures of the Femur and the Tibia / Fibula and damage to the Knee ligaments due to bending of the joint. Thus, attempts at reducing these injuries involve reducing the peak contact forces by making the bumper softer and increasing the contact area and by limiting the amount of knee bending by modifying the geometry of the front end of the car. Computer Simulations and experiments with Cadavers show that when cars have lower bumpers, the thigh and leg rotate together causing the knee to bend less and thus reducing the likelihood of Ligament injuries. Deeper bumper profiles and structures under the bumper (such as the air dam) can also assist in limiting the rotation of the leg . TRAMS An early example can be found on Tram s in the form of a lifeguard which prevents pedestrians from being caught between the wheels of the leading bogie should they be hit. When a pedestian hit the lifeguard a scoop/grille would be automaticaly lowered in front of the vehicle. REFERENCES |
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