Musings of a Compulsive Thinker

Car accident injuries

Before your next car accident, let's consider some of the myriad factors that affect how things may or may not go horribly wrong.

Occupants:
- Front
>> Outboard only: driver and passenger
- Rear
>> Outboard (2) and center

Impact/collision types:
- Front
- Rear
- Side
- Oblique (bi-axial)
- Rollover

Vehicle safety features:
- Seatbelts
>> Lap and shoulder belts
>> Belt auto-catch mechanism
- Head restraint (headrest)
>> Height and distance away from head
- Seat
>> Frame stiffness (resistance to bending and/or failure)
>> Seat stiffness (cushioning; resistance to loading by the occupant's torso)
>> Contouring (when the seat is loaded by the torso, how will the shape and relative stiffness of different sections of the seat affect the forces that build up on the torso?)
- Airbags
>> Front, side, etc.

Other factors:
- Safety feature performance
- Internal structural failure
>> Displacement of vehicle components (e.g., if the door panel fails, you might end up with a piece of sheet metal in your ribcage)
- External structural failure
>> Penetration of extravehicular objects into interior space (e.g. tree branches, signposts, meteors)
- Occupant orientation at moment of impact
>> Is the torso twisted? Are the legs crossed? Etc.
- Occupant's voluntary reactions to impact
>> E.g. bracing

Some possible injuries and causes:
- Steering column impact injuries
>> Usually seen only in frontal impacts; unique to driver position
- Upper extremity injuries
>> Usually due to occupant bracing
- Lower extremity injuries
>> Especially prevalent in frontal impacts; usually due to compressive loading
- Whiplash-related injuries (neck)
- Head injuries
>> Especially prevalent in side impacts; can occur in frontal impacts due to poor shoulder belt performance
- Torso injuries (thoracic, abdominal, pelvic)
>> Especially dependent on belt and seat performance
- Injuries due to excessive loading of shoulder and/or lap belts

Now, doesn't that just make you want to go out and get into a high-speed rollover crash?

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Labels: engineering, imagine yourself here, travel

posted by the alygator @ 11:29 AM