Evaluating Human Risk in Side Impact Collisions with Roadside Objects

Full-scale crash tests are traditionally used to assess the danger posed by roadside object. Crash test evaluation criteria should relate the observable response of the vehicle and the struck object to the likely risk of injury to vehicle occupants in similar real-world collisions. Side impact collisions are particularly serious impacts, but no evaluation guidelines exist. A simple method is presented for determining human risk in a side impact collision with a roadside object from the velocity profile of the impacted face of the struck object. This method not only eliminates the use of anthropometric test devices in crash tests, but also gives conservative values to account for the variable occupant position at the time of impact.