Vehicle Crashworthiness and Aggressiveness. Volume I: Current Levels of Crashworthiness and Causes of Aggressiveness

摘要

Data from crash tests of current production vehicles were analyzed to determine their levels of crashworthiness, and to study causes of aggressiveness of large vehicles against smaller vehicles. In addition, results of crash tests conducted with a load cell barrier test device built by Dynamic Science, Inc., were analyzed to determine the suitability of the device for measuring vehicle aggressiveness. The analyses included mathematical modeling of vehicles, occupants and restraint systems, as well as evaluation of dummy response measurements. Results include presentation of frontal impact crashworthiness levels for different vehicle categories, recommendations regarding future testing and methods of analysis for side impact collisions, identification of the contributions of specific vehicle components toward frontal aggressiveness, and recommendations to further assess the ability of different types of crash barriers to measure aggressiveness for compliance with future safety standards.