PREDICTED EFFECTIVENESS OF POTENTIAL INJURY COUNTERMEASURES FOR ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE OVERTURNS

摘要

An analysis of the predicted effectiveness of three potential injury countermeasures for All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) overturn accidents is described. These involved one passivecountermeasure – an example Crush Protective Device (CPD) – and two active countermeasures:a full face helmet and a half helmet. As in previous evaluations, the methodology involvedextending and applying the test and analysis methods defined in ISO 13232 for motorcycleimpacts, with further updates and calibrations of the models, to evaluate the effects on injuries ina sample of 770 simulated types of ATV overturns based on accident data. The results indicatedthat fitment of the example CPD resulted in no statistically significant net benefit in terms ofinjuries and fatalities in comparison to the baseline ATV and unhelmeted dummy; while use ofthe example full face helmet or half helmet resulted in statistically significant net benefits. Thisconfirms for this class of small, ride-on-top, straddle seat, handlebar-controlled, helmet-required,rider-active vehicles that helmet use - whether full face or half helmet, which offer differentlevels of protection – is an effective countermeasure, and that the example CPD is not aneffective countermeasure. The data indicate that the example CPD analyzed has no statisticallysignificant effect on probability of injury and fatality, and that in all paired comparisons analyzedthere was an excessive probability that it is a harmful device.