Child pedestrian anthropometry: evaluation of potential impact points during a crash

This paper highlights the potential impact points of a child pedestrian during a crash with the front end of a vehicle. Child anthropometry was defined for ages between 3 and 15 years. It was based on the measurement of seven different segment body heights (knee, femur, pelvis, shoulder, neck, chin, vertex) performed on about 2,000 French children. For each dimension, the 5(th), 50(th) and 95(th) percentile values were reported, and the corresponding linear regression lines were given. Then these heights were confronted with three different vehicle shapes, corresponding to a passenger car, a sport utility vehicle and a light truck, to identify impact points. In particular, we show that the thigh is directly hit by the bumper for children above 12 years of age, whereas the head principally impacts the hood. The influence of child anthropometry on the pedestrian trajectory and the comparison with test procedures in regulation are discussed.