A Study of AIS1 Neck Injury Parameters in 168 Frontal Collisions Using a Restrained Hybrid III Dummy

The research of AIS1 neck injuries has focused on rearend collisions, but a great portion of these injuries occur in frontal impacts. AIS1 neck injuries in frontal impacts can be associated with seat belt use and it can be hypothesized that the seat belt may transfer injurious loads to the neck. This study investigates the influence of the restraint system on the neck loads by using mechanical as well as mathematical (MADYMO) models of the HIII 50(th) percentile dummy. The mathematical simulations were based on 168 frontal crash pulses collected from crash recorders, installed in passenger cars in Sweden. The neck loads were evaluated by a new neck injury criterion NIC(protraction), the upper neck flexion moment and the Nij criterion. It was found that a pretensioner, a load limiter or an airbag have the potential to reduce the neck loads below recently suggested reference values for long-term neck injuries only as well as short- plus long-term neck injuries. Moreover, the interaction between the pretensioner, the load limiter and the airbag was of great importance in order to minimize the neck loads.