Injuries to Car Occupants — Theoretical Considerations

Abstract

A method is described for calculating the percentages of fatal, serious, slight and uninjured occupants in collisions; the first calculations being made for drivers in head-on collisions. The starting points are (1) a diagram giving the probabilities of the four injury levels versus velocity change of the vehicle, and (2) a distribution diagram of the percentages of head-on collisions within successive equal intervals of relative velocity at impact. Calculations of these percentages were made for ratios of the masses of the two vehicles of 1.0 to 9.0, and satisfactory agreement was found with results derived from the national accident statistics. The relevance of the theory to the assessment of the value of safety measures and the determination of human tolerance to impact is discussed.