Car Passenger Safety - To the Next Level

Important results from the project

The objective was to create new knowledge and develop assessment tools and methods for seatbelt interaction for car passengers aged 4 and older, with the purpose to enhance protection of the diverse population in a variation of sitting postures, seat positions and seating configurations in case of a crash. It has contributed to safety system developments thru providing input to robustness by enabling inclusion of a larger range of occupants and situations, as well as thru data for adaptable restraints using interior and exterior sensors in vehicles with high degree of automation.

Expected long term effects

The project has delivered novel data, tools and methods to assess the protection of the diverse population of passengers in future cars. The learnings include a greater understanding of passengers’ sitting postures, beltfit, movements, comfort experiences and attitudes, to be used as input to restraint developments. Moving from a limited part of the population being included in standardized crash assessments today, the project has provided a method to morph the SAFER HBM to represent women and men of a wide range of sizes, enabling enhance robustness and equality in crash assessment.

Approach and implementation

A combination of studies were included, such as user-studies on a variety of passengers seated in cars, development and use of human body models of different sizes in virtual crash simulations, in addition to active dialogue with ongoing international research. Cross-competence collaboration and diverse studies have enabled creation of new knowledge and developments on crash assessment tools of women and men, in addition to identification and understanding influencing factors for variations in sitting postures and beltfit of both adults and children.