Centre for Automotive Safety Research publications

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Open Access
A comparison of the pedestrian passive safety performance of the new vehicle fleet in Australia, France and the United Kingdom
(Victorian Dept of Justice, 2007) Ponte, G.; Anderson, R.; Searson, D.; Australian Road Safety Research Policing and Education Conference (2007 : Melbourne, Australia); William Gibbons,; Centre for Automotive Safety Research
Improvements to frontal vehicle design can improve a pedestrian's chance of survival in a collision but there are no design rules pertaining to pedestrian protection in Australia. Some overseas regulators are mandating a minimum level of pedestrian safety, and one consequence of this might be a flow of safer designs into the Australian vehicle fleet. To assess this, the distribution of pedestrian safety performance in the new car fleet of Australia was compared to those of France and the United Kingdom. A greater proportion of new passenger vehicles rated less than 2-stars for pedestrian safety by Euro NCAP and ANCAP are sold in Australia than in France and the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the portion of the new car fleet in France and the United Kingdom assessed by Euro NCAP/ANCAP since the beginning of 2006 has shown significant improvement and has a larger proportion of better performing vehicles than the equivalent segment of the Australian new car fleet. This period corresponds with the introduction of vehicle pedestrian safety requirements in Europe.
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A method for intra-experimental validation of head impact acceleration measurements
(Elsevier, 2007) Anderson, R.; Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR)
Methods of measuring head kinematics during short duration impacts include the so-called 3-2-2-2 method [1]. The method uses an array of linear accelerometers to estimate linear and angular acceleration of the head. The use of these and similar arrays in PMHS and animal models can be problematic because non-rigid effects can drastically affect the measurement of angular acceleration [2]. Problems include non-rigid attachment of the array to the head. One must also consider whether or not the rigid body is actually rigid, and to what extent the surface to which the array is attached is likely to exhibit non-rigid behaviour [3]. However, if the acceleration of a rigid body is known, the acceleration at any point on the rigid body can be calculated. Therefore it is possible to quantify the validity of the acceleration measurement using the output of one or more reference accelerometers. An accelerometer placed on the skull can record the acceleration experienced by a single point on the head during the impact. The output of the array can be used to predict the acceleration of that point. The degree of correlation between the prediction of the array and the acceleration measured by the reference accelerometer provides a statistical measure of the validity of the acceleration measurement in any given impact. If the predicted and measured acceleration correlate well, one can have increased confidence that the array successfully measured the rigid body motion of the head.
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A model for determining injury risk on the basis of impact speed
(IRCOBI, 2014) Gockowiak, K.; Anderson, R.; Searson, D.; International Research Council on the Biomechanics of Injury (IRCOBI) (10 Sep 2014 - 12 Sep 2014 : Berlin, Germany)
This paper discusses a model that estimates the effect of a change in impact velocity on vehicle impact response. The motivation of the study is to develop a model that will be able to predict occupant injury risk over a range of speeds based on performance in standard crash tests. The model comprises a tipped equivalent square wave (TESW) acceleration pulse to model the vehicle acceleration that is dependent on impact speed. The model was used to analyse data from five full‐width rigid‐barrier impact testing carried out at five speeds. Analyses were selected to investigate the relationship between impact speed, vehicle dynamic crush and mean impact acceleration. The results suggest that it is possible to model vehicle impact response (specifically the magnitude of dynamic crush and mean vehicle impact acceleration) using a bi‐linear, impactvelocity‐ dependent relationship, based on a limited number of crash tests. Models such as these may provide a means of integrating assessment of vehicle crashworthiness with the assessment of primary safety technologies designed to reduce the speed of crashes.
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Age-based selection of child restraints
(Australasian College of Road Safety, 2012) Anderson, R.; Hutchinson, T.
BACKGROUND: Advice to parents about child restraints is sometimes based on the child’s weight, and can be complicated and confusing. Children tend to want to progress to the next restraint earlier rather than later, and the lack of clarity in advice to parents means that parents are more likely to move children up into the next type of restraint prematurely. Moreover, many parents do not know the weight of their child. This paper explores what might be the consequences of very simple advice, such as advising parents to change the type of restraint when children reach 6 months of age, 4 years, and 8 years. METHOD: The distribution of children’s weights at different ages is used, along with the range of weights for which each restraint is appropriate, to work out the number of children who would be in an inappropriate restraint if progression were at particular ages. RESULTS: If 6 months is the age of transition from an infant capsule to a forward-facing child restraint, the number of children misclassified is approximately two one-month cohorts. If 48 months is the age of transition from a forward-facing child restraint to a booster seat, the number of children misclassified is again approximately two one-month cohorts. CONCLUSION: These numbers of misclassifications are low (relative to what has been reported in surveys when weight-based advice was the norm). It has not been proven that there would indeed be good compliance with sharp ages of transition, but the simplicity and salience of age make it attractive as a criterion.
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An analysis of head impact severity in simulations of collisions between pedestrians and SUVs/work utility vehicles, and sedans
(Taylor and Francis, Inc., 2011) Anderson, R.; Doecke, S.; Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR)
Objective: To describe the determinants of the severity of the head kinematics of a pedestrian when struck by common sport utility vehicles (SUV) and work utility vehicles (WUVs) to assess how effective assessment protocols are in assessing injury risk for SUVs and work utilities. Methods: Three hundred twenty-four simulations of pedestrian collisions with SUVs, work utility vehicles, and sedans were performed using several vehicle geometries, pedestrian orientations, speeds, and braking levels. Contact stiffnesses in the models were based on impact test results with exemplar vehicle structures. A single contact characteristic was used for all head-to-hood contacts to allow the effects of other factors on head injury risk to be compared. Simulations of standard headform tests on the same hood characterized the structure from a subsystem test perspective. Results: Head injury criterion values were higher in SUV/WUV simulations than sedan simulations because of high neck tension rather than through higher contact forces with the hood. In fact, the severity of the impact between the head and hood was slightly less in SUV/WUV simulations. Sedan and SUV/WUV simulations produced lower head injury criterion (HIC) values than did the subsystem tests. Conclusions: High bonnet leading edges led to increased neck loads in these simulations of pedestrian collisions. Neck loads were influential on head injury risk in the SUV/work utility simulations but not in sedan simulations. Subsystem impact tests may overestimate head impact risk from the hood itself but fail to capture a potentially important injury mechanism in collisions with vehicles with high leading edges and thus fail to differentiate completely risks posed by such vehicles. These results may have implications for the interpretation of pedestrian subsystem test results: a given HIC value in an SUV/WUV test may represent a relatively higher risk of injury than the same results recorded in a sedan test.
Open Access
An estimate of the effectiveness of an in-vehicle automatic collision notification system in reducing road crash fatalities in South Australia
(Taylor & Francis, 2016) Ponte, G.; Ryan, G.; Anderson, R.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the potential effectiveness of an in - vehicle automatic collision notification (ACN) system in reducing all road crash fatalities in South Australia (SA). Methods: For the years 2008 to 2009 traffic accident reporting system (TARS) data, emergency medical services (EMS) road crash dispatch data and Co roner ‟s reports were matched and examined. This was done t o initially determine the extent to which there was difference s between the reported time of a fatal road crash in the mass crash data and the time EMS were notified and dispatched . In the sub - set of fatal crashes where there was a delay, injuries detailed by a forensic pathologist in individual Coroner ‟s reports were examined to determine the likelihood of survival had there not been a delay in emergency medical assistance. Results : In 25 % (N= 53 ) of fatalities in SA in the period 2008 to 2009, there was a delay in the notification of the crash event, and hence dispatch of EMS , that exceed ed 10 minutes. In the two - year crash period, f ive people were likely to have survived through more prompt crash notification enabling quicker emergency medical assistance. Additionally three people potentially would have survived if surgical intervention (or emergency medical assistance to sustain lif e until surgery) occurred more promptly.
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An estimate of the future road safety benefits of autonomous emergency braking and vehicle-to-vehicle communication technologies
(Australasian College of Road Safety, 2017) Dutschke, J.; Searson, D.; Ponte, G.; Hutchinson, T.; Anderson, R.; Lydon, M.; Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC) (6 Sep 2016 - 8 Sep 2016 : Canberra, ACT)
The aim of this study was to examine the benefits of hastening the introduction of new passenger vehicle technologies on future reductions in fatalities and serious injuries on Australian roads. This was done specifically for Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications, which represent the two most promising technologies in the short-term and medium-term future. The results demonstrate that a delay in introduction, or a slower rate of introduction, can have a substantial effect on how long it takes for the safety benefits to be realised in the greater vehicle fleet.
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Biomechanical responses in an ovine model of non-accidental head injury (shaken baby syndrome)
(International Society of Biomechanics, 2011) Sandoz, B.; Anderson, R.; Liu, Q.; Helps, S.; Finnie, J.; Blumbergs, P.; Vink, R.; XXIII International Society of Biomechanics Congress (ISB2011) (3 Jul 2011 - 7 Jul 2011 : Brussels, Belgium)
The main physiological consequences of a shaken baby syndrome (SBS) are well characterized, whereas the nature of the forces and accelerations of the head during the assault, and their relationship with the clinical presentation of SBS remain unknown. One of the dominant controversies in the SBS is whether a head impact is necessary to produce pathology or whether shaking alone is sufficient to injure the brain. There is currently no satisfactory animal model in which to investigate the biomechanics of the SBS. The principal aim of this study was to record the acceleration levels of a juvenile ovine head during a shaking event. One triaxial accelerometer and one motion sensor were glued on the skull of 10 lambs that were manually shaken. The accelerations, positions and orientations of the heads were collected and assessed. Further studies will correlate neuropathological changes with these biomechanical events.
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Biomechanics of closed head injury
(Chapman & Hall, 1997) McLean, J.; Anderson, R.; Reilly, P.; Bullock, R.
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Biomechanics of closed head injury
(Hodder Education, 2005) Anderson, R.; McLean, A.; Reilly, P.; Bullock, R.
Open Access
Choices of licensing method and crashes of young drivers
(Australasian College of Road Safety, 2006) Anderson, R.; Kloeden, C.; Hutchinson, P.; McLean, J.; Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference (2005 : Wellington, New Zealand); Strachan, G.; Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR)
Five years of data (1998-2002) were used to examine whether there was a relationship between the method of driver licensing - Competency Based Training (CBT) or Vehicle On-Road Test (VORT) - and the subsequent crash experience of young drivers, using logistic regression analysis. The main findings of this study were: Statewide, choosing the VORT was associated with a 6% increase in the odds of having at least one crash in the first 180 days. In one year, if those who chose VORT had an equivalent crash risk to those who chose CBT, there might have been 20 fewer non-casualty and 10 fewer casualty crashes in new drivers' first six months of driving. The choice of licensing method was less important than the variables: area of residence, sex, age and the period spent on a learner's licence. However, choosing VORT rather than CBT could easily be due to factors (amount of travel, personality, social habits) that are also associated with a greater likelihood of crashing. For example, we found that choosing VORT rather than CBT was associated with a 25% increase in the odds that the driver had been involved in a crash as a driver prior to the issue of a P licence. This means that there is a real possibility that the slight increase in the odds of having at least one subsequent crash (noted in 1. above) is not due primarily to any characteristic of the VORT test itself but rather something about the drivers who chose to take the VORT. We therefore found no clear evidence that any differences between the VORT and CBT methods of licensing are related to subsequent crash experience. In separate analyses, we found no evidence that the choice of examiner for the VORT, or the instructor for the CBT test, has any significant influence on subsequent crash outcome.
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Contribution of structural incompatibility to asymmetrical injury risks in crashes between two passenger vehicles
(Australasian College of Road Safety, 2012) Anderson, R.; Ponte, G.
It is well known that mass ratio affects the probability of injury and death in both vehicles in two-vehicle crashes. Likewise, other evidence suggests that typical fourwheel drive (4WD) vehicles exhibit poorer than average aggressivity such that occupants of regular vehicles are more likely to be injured in a crash when it involves a 4WD. In this study, the ratio of the incidence of injury and death to drivers in two-vehicle crashes was calculated for crashes with different vehicle mass ratios. Injury ratios were calculated for crashes involving strictly two cars and again for those crashes where the heavier vehicle was a 4WD vehicle or a light truck (LT) and the lighter vehicle was a car. There is a common dependence of the injury risk ratio on vehicle mass ratio in both classes of crash, but there is an additional relative risk to the lighter vehicle driver when the heavier vehicle is a 4WD/LT. The effect is stronger for fatality ratios. Around twice as many drivers are killed per crash in car-to-4WD/LT crashes, indicating that the increased risk to the driver of the car is not completely offset by reduced risks to the driver of the 4WD/LT.
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The development of a protective headband for car occupants
(Australian Transport Safety Bureau, 2000) Anderson, R.; White, K.; McLean, A.
This report addresses the development of a protective headband for car occupants. It focuses on the investigation of suitable materials for the headband by examining their impact absorbing properties. Tests consisted of: a series of impacts where material was interposed between a steel slab and the headform dropped from a height; a series a of drop tests where prototype headbands were attached to a headform and dropped against standard helmet testing anvils; and a series of tests with the most promising prototypes in which the headband was attached to the headform and then fired against an internal structure of apassenger car. Two prototype concepts appear worthy of further investigation: a headband constructed of polyurethane foam and a headband consisting of a cardboard honeycomb liner encased in a hard shell both significantly reduced the severity of impacts with the car structures. However, further investigation into optimising the selection of materials for their impact absorbing qualities and their comfort and durability in normal use is warranted. These tests demonstrate that a headbawor car occupants could significantly reduce the severity of certain head impacts in a crash. The best prototype headband reduced the HIC and peak acceleration values by over 60percent in a standard test with the interior of the car. The reduced impact was approximately equivalent in severity to an unprotected impact with the structure at half the speed.
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Development of head protection for car occupants
(ARRB Transport Research Ltd., 2003) Anderson, R.; Ponte, G.; Streeter, L.
Past work by McLean and others demonstrated that energy absorbing headwear for car occupants might be effective in reducing the numbers of head injuries sustained by car occupants. They estimated that the benefits were greater than the estimated benefits of padding of the upper interior of vehicles to the requirements of the US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 201. This paper describes the development of head protection for car occupants (the RARU Headband) that would protect the head of an occupant in a crash. The development process included the testing of candidate materials, the construction of prototypes and ultimately the evaluation of the prototypes according to test methods outlined in FMVSS 201. The evaluation was made by attaching the headband to a free motion head form, and firing the headform at 24 km/h at an unpadded beam that had similar characteristics to a vehicle A-pillar, simulating a frontal collision. Three beams of varying stiffness were used to examine the protective effect of the headband over a range of impact severities. The protective effect was measured by comparing the impact severity between impacts with and without the headband present. Results showed that the headband produced marked reductions in the Head Injury Criterion value compared to the unprotected headform. In beams that produced severe impacts with the unprotected headform, that exceeded the threshold set by FMVSS 201, the headband reduced the severity to safe levels. This study showed that head impact severities can be markedly reduced for car occupants by the use of moderate amounts of head protection in frontal impacts. Further evaluation is required for other impact directions. This study was completed for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
Open Access
Differences between groups of drivers: offences contrasted with crashes
(School of Law, Flinders University of South Australia, 2008) Kloeden, C.; Anderson, R.; Hutchinson, T.; Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR)
If an intervention can be shown to affect the number of driving offences, is this also evidence that it has an effect on road crashes? We summarise two recent studies in which we found a difference between groups in respect of driving offences but not in respect of crashes. One study focused on the method of obtaining a driving licence, the other concerned participation in a brief intervention program for young offending drivers. Further, the literature reveals other examples of different effects on offences and crashes. One possible explanation is that there is a closer link between the behaviours targeted by the intervention and being caught offending than between those same behaviours and being involved in a crash. Unfortunately, the question remains open as to whether there is an effect on crashes that is in the same direction as the effect on offences but smaller, or whether there is no effect on crashes because the behaviours that differ between the groups are not relevant to crashes.
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Exposure to risk on the roads
(RTA New South Wales, 2009) Hutchinson, T.; Wundersitz, L.; Anderson, R.; Kloeden, C.; Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing & Education Conference (2009 : Sydney, Australia); Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR)
The concept of “exposure” to risk is used in the context that number of crashes is the product of exposure to risk and the rate of crashes per unit of exposure. In a practical sense, exposure refers to quantities such as distance travelled, time spent travelling, or number of vehicles passing a point. Comparison of crash rates of different groups of people, different types of vehicle, different roads, different environmental conditions, and so on, may be desired. This paper will examine vehicle registration data, counts of vehicles, surveys of vehicle use, and what is termed induced exposure that attempts to infer risk by distinguishing between crashes in which a party is “innocent” or “responsible”. The concept of exposure has not yet achieved all that has been wished for in road safety research, because of problems with both the concept and its practical measurement. However, new technology offers considerable potential.
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From crash test speed to performance in real world conditions: A conceptual model and its application to underhood clearance in pedestrian head tests
(The Stapp Association, 2012) Searson, D.; Hutchinson, T.; Anderson, R.; Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR)
Current safety testing protocols typically evaluate performance at a single test speed, which may have undesirable side effects if vehicles are optimised to perform at that speed without consideration to performance at other speeds. One way of overcoming this problem is by using an evaluation that incorporates the distribution of speeds that would be encountered in real crashes, the relationship between test speed and test performance, and the relationship between test performance and injury risk. Such an evaluation is presented in this paper and is applied to pedestrian headform testing. The applicable distribution of pedestrian impact speeds was compiled from in-depth crash data. Values of the Head Injury Criterion across the speed distribution were imputed from a single test result, taking into account the potential for 'bottoming out' on harder structures beneath the hood. Two different risk functions were used: skull fracture risk and fatal head injury risk. Eight example test locations were evaluated; each had an underhood clearance such that it would perform worse at higher speeds than suggested by its original test result. When the effect of bottoming out was included in the evaluation, the calculated average injury risk was generally higher than it was if bottoming out was ignored. The average risk of fatal head injury was more affected by the inclusion of bottoming out than the average skull fracture risk. The methodology presented in this paper may be extended to other forms of impact testing, although the input functions may be more difficult to derive for more complex tests.
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Impact mechanics and axonal injury in a sheep model
(Mary Ann Liebert Inc Publ, 2003) Anderson, R.; Brown, C.; Blumbergs, P.; McLean, A.; Jones, N.
This paper describes a biomechanical study of axonal injury due to a blunt impact to the head. The aim of the experimental model was to produce axonal injury analogous to that seen in human trauma while measuring the dynamics of the impact and the subsequent kinematics of the head. These measurements were made in a way to facilitate the simulation of these experiments using the finite element method. Sheep were anaesthetised and ventilated, and subjected to a single impact to the lateral aspect of their skull. The impact force was measured throughout the duration of the impact and the kinematics of the head was measured using a novel implementation of a nine-accelerometer array. The axonal injury was identified using amyloid precursor protein (APP) as a marker, intensified using antigen retrieval techniques. Axonal injury was consistently produced in all animals. Commonly injured regions included the sub-cortical and deep white matter, and the periventricular white matter surrounding the lateral ventricles. The observed axonal injury was mapped and quantified on three coronal sections of each brain. The measure used to describe the injury severity correlated with the peak magnitude of the impact force and with peak values of kinematic parameters, particularly the peak change of linear and angular velocity.
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In vivo biomechanical response of ovine heads to shaken baby syndrome events
(Informa Healthcare, 2012) Sandoz, B.; Dutschke, J.; Liu, Q.; Manavis, J.; Finnie, J.; Vink, R.; Anderson, R.; Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR)
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Influence of head boundry conditions in pedestrian real world head trauma simulations
(IRCOBI, 2009) Munsch, M.; Anderson, R.; Deck, C.; Ludes, B.; Willinger, R.; IRCOBI Conference (2009 : York, UK); Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR)

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