Despite the widespread availability of airbags and a belt use rate of over 85%, U.S. drivers involved in crashes continue to be at risk of serious thoracic injury. One hypothesis is that this risk may be due to the lack of airbag deployment or the airbag ‘bottoming-out’ in some cases. The objective of this study is to determine the incidence and thoracic injury risk of direct steering wheel con...

Objective – Public concern has arisen about the reliability of front airbags because Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data indicate many nondeployed airbags in fatal frontal crashes. However, the accuracy of airbag deployment, the variable in question, is uncertain. This study aimed to provide more certain estimates of nondeployment incidence in fatal frontal crashes. Methods – Fatally...

OBJECTIVE Public concern has arisen about the reliability of front air bags because Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data indicate many nondeployed air bags in fatal frontal crashes. However, the accuracy of air bag deployment, the variable in question, is uncertain. This study aimed to provide more certain estimates of nondeployment incidence in fatal frontal crashes. METHODS Fatall...

This paper presents the first experiment managed as part of the Sciences and Technologies for Safety in Transport (ST2) program, a French national research project. In this program, human physical reactions are studied in order to adapt primary and secondary safety systems to driver behavior. The objective of the present study was to examine how car drivers modify their posture just prior to a ...

Ambulance vehicles are a unique passenger environment with complex crashworthiness and occupant protection issues, eg. occupants in various orientations, unique human factors aspects and an array of aftermarket interior modifications. In the USA, ambulance vehicle occupant protection, crashworthiness and safety testing lags 30 years behind current general automotive safety technology. This pape...

CONTEXT Crash fatality and injury rates are higher on rural roadways than other roadway types. Although slow-moving farm vehicles and equipment are risk factors on rural roads, little is known about the characteristics of crashes with farm vehicles/equipment. PURPOSE To describe crashes and injuries for the drivers of farm vehicles/equipment and non-farm vehicles involved in an injury crash. ...