Preliminary Evaluation of Advanced Air Bag Field Performance Using Event Data Recorders


Book Description

This report describes a preliminary evaluation of the field performance of occupant restraint systems designed with advanced air bag features including those specified in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 for advanced air bags, through the use of event data recorders. Although advanced restraint systems have been extensively tested in the laboratory, we are only beginning to understand the performance of these systems in the field. Because EDRs record many of the inputs to the advanced air bag control module, these devices can provide unique insights into the characteristics of field performance of air bags. This research program investigates the feasibility of using EDR data to evaluate advanced air bags. Specifically, this report discusses (1) the development of an expanded EDR dataset based on data retrieved from NASS/CDS 2005, SCI, and CIREN in-depth crash investigations, (2) the validation of the accuracy of EDRs in full-scale crash tests, and (3) the feasibility of using EDRs to monitor the performance of advanced air bag restraints in real-world crashes.




Event Data Recorder (EDR) Interpretation


Book Description

Collision Reconstruction Methodologies - Volume 7B - The last ten years have seen explosive growth in the technology available to the collision analyst, changing the way reconstruction is practiced in fundamental ways. The greatest technological advances for the crash reconstruction community have come in the realms of photogrammetry and digital media analysis. The widespread use of scanning technology has facilitated the implementation of powerful new tools to digitize forensic data, create 3D models and visualize and analyze crash vehicles and environments. The introduction of unmanned aerial systems and standardization of crash data recorders to the crash reconstruction community have enhanced the ability of a crash analyst to visualize and model the components of a crash reconstruction. Because of the technological changes occurring in the industry, many SAE papers have been written to address the validation and use of new tools for collision reconstruction. Collision Reconstruction Methodologies Volumes 1-12 bring together seminal SAE technical papers surrounding advancements in the crash reconstruction field. Topics featured in the series include: • Night Vision Study and Photogrammetry • Vehicle Event Data Recorders • Motorcycle, Heavy Vehicle, Bicycle and Pedestrian Accident Reconstruction The goal is to provide the latest technologies and methodologies being introduced into collision reconstruction - appealing to crash analysts, consultants and safety engineers alike.




Event Data Recorder (EDR) Interpretation


Book Description

Collision Reconstruction Methodologies - Volume 7A - The last ten years have seen explosive growth in the technology available to the collision analyst, changing the way reconstruction is practiced in fundamental ways. The greatest technological advances for the crash reconstruction community have come in the realms of photogrammetry and digital media analysis. The widespread use of scanning technology has facilitated the implementation of powerful new tools to digitize forensic data, create 3D models and visualize and analyze crash vehicles and environments. The introduction of unmanned aerial systems and standardization of crash data recorders to the crash reconstruction community have enhanced the ability of a crash analyst to visualize and model the components of a crash reconstruction. Because of the technological changes occurring in the industry, many SAE papers have been written to address the validation and use of new tools for collision reconstruction. Collision Reconstruction Methodologies Volumes 1-12 bring together seminal SAE technical papers surrounding advancements in the crash reconstruction field. Topics featured in the series include: • Night Vision Study and Photogrammetry • Vehicle Event Data Recorders • Motorcycle, Heavy Vehicle, Bicycle and Pedestrian Accident Reconstruction The goal is to provide the latest technologies and methodologies being introduced into collision reconstruction - appealing to crash analysts, consultants and safety engineers alike.







Advanced Air Bag Technology Assessment


Book Description

As a result of the concern for the growing number of air-bag-induced injuries and fatalities, the administrators of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) agreed to a cooperative effort that leverages NHTSA's expertise in motor vehicle safety restraint systems and biomechanics with NASAs position as one of the leaders in advanced technology development... to enable the state of air bag safety technology to advance at a faster pace... They signed a NASA/NHTSA memorandum of understanding for NASA to evaluate air bag to assess advanced air bag performance, establish the technological potential for improved technology (smart) air bag systems, and identify key expertise and technology within the agency (i.e., NASA) that can potentially contribute significantly to the improved effectiveness of air bags. NASA is committed to contributing to NHTSAs effort to: (1) understand and define critical parameters affecting air bag performance; (2) systematically assess air bag technology state of the art and its future potential; and (3) identify new concepts for air bag systems. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was selected by NASA to respond to the memorandum of understanding by conducting an advanced air bag technology assessment. JPL analyzed the nature of the need for occupant restraint, how air bags operate alone and with safety belts to provide restraint, and the potential hazards introduced by the technology. This analysis yielded a set of critical parameters for restraint systems. The researchers examined data on the performance of current air bag technology, and searched for and assessed how new technologies could reduce the hazards introduced by air bags while providing the restraint protection that is their primary purpose. The critical parameters which were derived are: (1) the crash severity; (2) the use of seat belts; (3) the physical characteristics of the occupants; (4) the proximity...




Automotive Accident Reconstruction


Book Description

This fully updated edition presents practices and principles applicable for the reconstruction of automobile and commercial truck crashes. Like the First Edition, it starts at the very beginning with fundamental principles, information sources, and data gathering and inspection techniques for accident scenes and vehicles. It goes on to show how to analyze photographs and crash test data. The book presents tire fundamentals and shows how to use them in spreadsheet-based reverse trajectory analysis. Such methods are also applied to reconstructing rollover crashes. Impacts with narrow fixed objects are discussed. Impact mechanics, structural dynamics, and conservation-based reconstruction methods are presented. The book contains a comprehensive treatment of crush energy and how to develop structural stiffness properties from crash test data. Computer simulations are reviewed and discussed. Extensively revised, this edition contains new material on side pole impacts. It has entirely new chapters devoted to low-speed impacts, downloading electronic data from vehicles, deriving structural stiffness in side impacts, and incorporating electronic data into accident reconstructions




Motorcycle Accident Reconstruction


Book Description

Accident reconstruction utilizes principles of physics and empirical data to analyze the physical, electronic, video, audio, and testimonial evidence from a crash, to determine how and why the crash occurred, how the crash could have been avoided, or to determine whose description of the crash is most accurate. This process draws together aspects of mathematics, physics, engineering, materials science, human factors, and psychology, and combines analytical models with empirical test data. Different types of crashes produce different types of evidence and call for different analysis methods. Still, the basic philosophical approach of the reconstructionist is the same from crash type to crash type, as are the physical principles that are brought to bear on the analysis. This book covers a basic approach to accident reconstruction, including the underlying physical principles that are used, then details how this approach and the principles are applied when reconstructing motorcycle crashes. This second edition of Motorcycle Accident Reconstruction presents a thorough, systematic, and scientific overview of the available methods for reconstructing motorcycle crashes. This new edition contains: Additional theoretical models, examples, case studies, and test data. An updated bibliography incorporating the newest studies in the field. Expanded coverage of the braking capabilities of motorcyclists. Updated, refined, and expanded discussion of the decelerations of motorcycles sliding on the ground. A thoroughly rewritten and expanded discussion of motorcycle impacts with passenger vehicles. Updated coefficients of restitution for collisions between motorcycles and cars. A new and expanded discussion of using passenger car EDR data in motorcycle accident reconstruction. A new section covering recently published research on post-collision frozen speedometer readings on motorcycles. A new section on motorcycle interactions with potholes, roadway deterioration, and debris and expanded coverage of motorcycle falls. This second edition of Motorcycle Accident Reconstruction is a must-have title for accident reconstructionists, forensic engineers, and all interested in understanding why and how motorcycle crashes occur.




Air Bag Development and Performance


Book Description

Follow the fascinating development of the automotive air bag - from its introduction to the latest advances - in this comprehensive collection of papers from both SAE and other professional sources, complete with informative diagrams, graphics, and charts. Air Bag Development and Performance: New Perspectives from Industry, Government and Academia begins with five chapters - one each from Editor Richard Kent and the collection's four Associate Editors - offering the authors' unique perspectives on the history, development, or performance of these important safety devices. Approximately 50 selected SAE, government, and other papers are also provided in their entirety, along with the titles and abstracts of about 90 other papers (listed as recommended reading) and the titles of some 600 related papers for further reference (included in a bibliography at the end of the book).




Federal Register


Book Description




Vehicle Accident Analysis and Reconstruction Methods


Book Description

In this third edition of Vehicle Accident Analysis & Reconstruction Methods, Raymond M. Brach and R. Matthew Brach have expanded and updated their essential work for professionals in the field of accident reconstruction. Most accidents can be reconstructed effectively using of calculations and investigative and experimental data: the authors present the latest scientific, engineering, and mathematical reconstruction methods, providing a firm scientific foundation for practitioners. Accidents that cannot be reconstructed using the methods in this book are rare. In recent decades, the field of crash reconstruction has been transformed through the use of technology. The advent of event data records (EDRs) on vehicles signaled the era of modern crash reconstruction, which utilizes the same physical evidence that was previously available as well as electronic data that are measured/captured before, during, and after the collision. There is increased demand for more professional and accurate reconstruction as more crash data is available from vehicle sensors. The third edition of this essential work includes a new chapter on the use of EDRs as well as examples using EDR data in accident reconstruction. Early chapters feature foundational material that is necessary for the understanding of vehicle collisions and vehicle motion; later chapters present applications of the methods and include example reconstructions. As a result, Vehicle Accident Analysis & Reconstruction Methods remains the definitive resource in accident reconstruction.