Influence of arm position on thoracic injuries in side impact

acting on the lateral lobes, or shearing stress producing relative displacement between lobes were postulated as major injury-producing mechanical factors. Approximately 350 kPa of belt pressure or 60% upper abdominal compression at 1.7 m/s was necessary to produce a hepatic surface injury, but the beagle may be predisposed to such injury compared to a human because of increased exposure of its abdomen to the belt webbing. Accordingly, this study does not assess the potential for a belt-induced liver injury to a restrained individual in a rapiddeceleration environment, nor does the study attempt to simulate the performance of any particular current or previous restraint system. Influence of juries in Side and 1. Bloch, Car Crash 291.

Arm Position on Thoracic InImpact. D. Cesari, M. Ramet, Proceedings of the 25th Stapp Conference, 1981, pp. 271-

The thorax is frequently involved in side impact accidents; in such accidents, injuries to the thorax are related to the intrusion. The position of the impacted side arm can affect the occurring of thoracic injuries in side impact. This study describes the results of 15 side impact thoracic tests performed on 8 cadavers; most of these tests were conducted with arm involvement (the upper arm was placed along the thorax and the impact was transmitted to the thorax through the arm). The results of these tests were compared to the results of 6 tests previously published, conducted without arm involvement (the impact was applied directly to the thorax). From these results, it appears that the arm offers a limited protection when it is placed along the thorax, by distributing impact forces on the chest, and that the BLUR criterion is not well correlated with thoracic injury severity.

Measurement of Effectiveness of Rear-TumSignal Systems in Reducing Vehicle Accidents from an Analysis of Actual Accident Data. G. W. Taylor and W. K. Ng, Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc., 1981, Warrendale, PA. Winter 1982/Volume 13/Number 4

A study of vehicle accident data from insurance claim files was conducted to determine the relative effectiveness of red and amber turn-signal systems in reducing rearend collisions. The effectiveness was measured in terms of the relative frequency of accidents involving these systems, with respect to a number of vehicle, environment, and driver factors. Control for vehicle exposure was made by comparing the nonturning accidents with the turning accidents for the relevant rear-turn signal systems. Analyses revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in rear-end accident rates between the red and amber turn-signal systems. On the basis of safety benefits, the results of the study did not appear to provide sufficient justification for changes to the present Motor Vehicle Safety Standards regarding the functional separation and color coding in a rear-turn-signal system.

A Method for Determining the Accident Potential of an Intersection. R. 1. Brown, Traffic Engineering and Control, 1981, 22(12), 648-651, This paper describes a study into the feasibility of predicting the accident potential at an intersection by the application of a model based on accident occurrence at individual conflict points within a four-legged intersection with two-way flow on each leg and which is controlled by traffic signals. The general objectives of this study were to develop a method that will serve as a means of rapidly ascertaining the safety performance of existing intersections and which, at the same time, can be used to predict the effect on safety performance of proposed road changes both from the point of view of the type of intersection and the volume and pattern of traffic movements at that intersection.

Predicting Accident Involvement with the Motorcycle Operator Skill Test. B. A. Jonah, N. E. Dawson, and B. W. Bragg, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 1981, 13(4), 307-318. The present study was conducted to assess 179