Vehiclevcb

TNO report
Crash Safety Centre Schoemakerstraat 97 P.O. Box 6033 2600 JA Delft The Netherlands www.tno.nl
Literature survey on in-vehicle safety devices
T +31 15 2696900 F +31 15 2624321 Rekveldt@wt.tno.nl
Date Author(s)
May 9, 2003 M.G.C. Rekveldt, MSc. K. Labibes, Ph.D.
Sponsor
Swedisch National Road Administration (SNRA) SE-78187 Borlnge Sweden
Approved by M.G.C. Rekveldt (Project Leader) Also seen by H.G. Mooi, Ph.D. Project code 009.01345 Research period January - April 2003 Number of pages 68 Number of appendices A-C Number of figures 30 Number of tables 6
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced and/or published by print, photoprint, microfilm or any other means without the previous written consent of TNO. In case this report was drafted on instructions, the rights and obligations of contracting parties are subject to either the Standard Conditions for Research Instructions given to TNO, or the relevant agreement concluded between the contracting parties. Submitting the report for inspection to parties who have a direct interest is permitted. 2003 TNO
TNO report 03.OR.BV.037.1/MRE | Literature survey In-vehicle safety devices | 09 May 2003
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Summary
This report presents a literature survey on in-vehicle safety devices. The study was split into two parts, from which the first part was focussed on restraint systems and the second on intelligent vehicle systems. This study aimed to give an overview of potentials for safety of current technologies available and trends in in-vehicle safety devices. The literature survey showed that the effectiveness of wearing seat belts in reducing injury risk (up to 60%) is much higher than effectiveness of airbags only. Effectiveness of the seat belts in combination with airbags is 10-20% higher than effectiveness of only belts. Only very limited information on effectiveness of side- and curtain airbags was available. New seat concepts were shown to claim a reduction of Whiplash injury risk and also a reduction of fatality risk. Side effects of restraints systems were described, including the risks for out-of-position occupants. Current trends indicated the increasing importance of the use of adaptive systems, in which occupant characteristics can be taken into account to reach optimal restraint performance. These adaptive systems include various sensors. Another important trend is to cover safety aspects for all occupants (front and rear occupants) and in all accident configurations, including multiple impacts. Intelligent Vehicle Systems (IVS) can be used for comfort or/and for Safety. IVS for Safety were mentioned in this report as IVSS. Intelligence is already introduced in nowadays cars like ABS (Anti locking Brake System) and more recently ESP (Electronic Stability Program). Estimations from in depth accidents analysis showed that ESP could have reduced the likelihood or avoided the accident in 18% of all injury accidents and in 34% of fatal accidents. The new challenge is to introduce remote sensing for avoiding or mitigating a crash. ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) is an example of this technology, other systems will follow. An overview on IVS and more details on IVSS was provided in this literature survey including the estimated potential of the systems to increase vehicle safety. This potential is obtained mainly from simulation and experts opinions and the obtained numbers have to be taken cautiously. It is agreed that IVSS tackle the first cause of accidents, which is driver errors.
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Sammanfattning
Den hr rapporten presenterar en litteraturversikt ver skerhetsutrustning i fordon. Studien delades upp i tv delar, dr den frsta delen fokuserade p skyddssystem och den andra p moderna s kallade Intelligent Vehicle Systems (IVS). Syftet med den hr studien var att ge en versikt av skerhetspotentialen i aktuella tillgngliga tekniker och trender fr skerhetsanordningar i fordon. Litteraturversikten visade att skerhetsbltets effektivitet att minska skaderisken (upp till 60%) r mycket hgre n endast krockkuddens skadereducerande effekt. Skerhetsbltets effekt tillsammans med krockkudden r 10-20% hgre n endast skerhetsbltets. Endast begrnsad information om sidokrockkuddars och skyddsgardiners effektivitet finns idag tillgnglig. Nya bilstolar visade sig minska risken fr pisksnrtskador och resulterade ven i en minskning av ddsriskerna. Skerhetssystemens bieffekter beskrevs, inklusive riskerna fr passagerare utan skerhetsblte. Utvecklingen visade den kade betydelsen av anvndningen av adaptiva system dr passagerarnas egenskaper tas hnsyn till fr att n optimal skerhet. Dessa adaptiva system inkluderar olika sensorer. En annan viktig trend r att beakta skerhetsaspekterna fr samtliga passagerare (passagerare fram och bak) och i samtliga olyckstyper. IVS kan anvndas fr komfort och/eller fr skerhet. IVS fr skerhet kallas i den hr rapporten IVSS (Intelligent Vehicle Safety System). Intelligens finns redan i dagens bilar i och med ABS (Lsningsfria bromsar) och nyare ESP (antisladd-system). Berkningar frn olycksanalyser visar att ESP kunde ha minskat sannolikheten eller undvikit olyckan i 18% av samtliga skadeolyckor och i 34% av ddsolyckorna. Den nya utmaningen r att presentera nya sensorer fr att undvika eller minska vldet i en kollision. ACC (Adaptiva konstantfarthllare) r ett exempel p sdan teknologi. Andra system kommer inom kort. En versikt av IVS och mer information om IVSS ges i den hr litteraturversikten, inklusive uppskattade systemmjligheter fr att ka fordonsskerheten. Potentialen berknas i huvudsak frn simuleringar och expertomdmen och de erhllna potentialerna mste tas med en nypa salt. Man r verens om att IVSS kan adressera den strsta olycksorsaken, som r frarfel.
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Contents
1 2 2.1 2.1.1 2.1.2 2.1.3 2.1.4 2.2 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.3 2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3 2.3.4 2.3.5 2.3.6 2.3.7 2.3.8 2.4 2.5 3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 4 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.3.1 4.3.2 4.4 4.4.1 4.4.2 4.4.3 4.5 4.5.1 4.5.2 4.6 4.7 Introduction................................................................................................................... 6 Restraint systems........................................................................................................... 8 Safety belt systems.......................................................................................................... 9 Description of belt systems ............................................................................................. 9 Pretensioners ................................................................................................................. 10 Load limiter................................................................................................................... 10 Potential of belts to increase safety ............................................................................... 11 Seats .............................................................................................................................. 14 Seat design aspects........................................................................................................ 14 Potential of seats to increase safety............................................................................... 16 Airbags .......................................................................................................................... 18 Description of airbag systems ....................................................................................... 18 Frontal airbags............................................................................................................... 19 Potential of frontal airbags to increase safety................................................................ 20 Side airbags for chest and head & curtain airbags ....................................................... 21 Potential of side airbags to improve safety.................................................................... 22 Special head protection airbags and curtain airbags...................................................... 22 Potential of head airbags and curtain airbags to increase safety ................................... 24 Other airbags ................................................................................................................. 24 Interior panels and retractable steering columns ........................................................... 25 Integration of safety concepts ....................................................................................... 27 Side effects of restraint systems ................................................................................. 31 Injuries caused by belts ................................................................................................. 31 Injuries caused by airbags ............................................................................................. 31 Out-of-position (OOP) .................................................................................................. 32 Effects of restraint systems on elderly ......................................................................... 34 Effects of restraint systems on small children and child restraints................................ 34 Effect of occupant characteristics on injury risk ........................................................... 35 Trends in restraint systems ........................................................................................ 36 General trends ............................................................................................................... 36 Trends in tools for restraint system development.......................................................... 36 Trends in safety ............................................................................................................. 37 Investigation of multiple impacts .................................................................................. 37 Safety of rear occupants ................................................................................................ 38 Trends in belt design ..................................................................................................... 38 Four point belt ............................................................................................................... 38 New belt concept inflatable belt................................................................................. 39 New belt pretensioners.................................................................................................. 39 Trends in airbags ........................................................................................................... 40 Airbag design ................................................................................................................ 40 Inflator technology ........................................................................................................ 40 Sensors .......................................................................................................................... 40 Potential effectiveness of adaptive restraint systems .................................................... 42
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5 5.1 5.1.1 5.1.2 5.1.3 5.1.4 5.2 5.3 5.3.1 5.3.2 5.4 5.5 6 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 7 7.1 7.2 8
Intelligent Vehicle Systems (IVS)............................................................................... 43 IVS in vehicle safety applications ................................................................................. 43 ABS Anti locking Brake System or Antilock Brake System ....................................... 44 ASR Acceleration Slip Regulation .............................................................................. 44 ESP Electronic Stability Program .............................................................................. 44 Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC).................................................................................... 45 IVS potential to integrate Passive safety and active safety ........................................... 46 Pre-Crash Sensing (PCS) systems................................................................................. 47 Example project: Chameleon t[29] ............................................................................... 48 Pre-crash sensing potential and limitations to increase safety ...................................... 49 Trends in IVS for safety................................................................................................ 50 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 52 Remote sensor technology .......................................................................................... 54 Ultrasonic sensors ......................................................................................................... 54 Infrared sensors ............................................................................................................. 54 Radar ............................................................................................................................. 55 Lidar .............................................................................................................................. 57 Artificial vision : (video pattern recognition)................................................................ 57 Data sensor fusion ......................................................................................................... 58 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 59 Restraint systems........................................................................................................... 59 Intelligent Vehicle Systems........................................................................................... 59 References .................................................................................................................... 61 Appendices A Glossary B List of relevant IVS related EC projects C Overview actual regulations and consumer tests
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Introduction
At the end of December 2002, Swedish National Road Administration invited universities, polytechnics and research institutes around the world to carry out literature studies on several subjects related to road safety including the subject in-vehicle safety devices. The exact formulation of the call was: The effect and potential in using different modern safety systems in vehicles. What needs to be improved and developed? Examples of systems to describe are: airbags, side-impact airbags for chest and head, modern safety belt system (safety belt pretensioner, force limiter etc). What potential lies in other in-vehicle systems, such as intelligent cruise control, ESP, ABS brakes and traction control? The successful submission of TNO included: The study on in-vehicle safety devices will be split into two parts. In the first part, a description will be given of current restraint systems in cars, developed for frontal, side and rollover impact situations. Different types of airbags (driver & passenger frontal, side airbags, knee airbags, curtain airbags) and belts (including pre-tensioner, retractor etc.) will be considered. Attention will also be paid to the possible negative effects of these restraint systems. For example, out-of-position situations in which an occupant is interacting with a deploying airbag will be taken into account. The second part of the in-vehicle safety study will focus more on active safety including use of anticipatory sensors to make restraint systems more efficient. An inventory of current and future active systems will be made as well as an overview of the most relevant components for such systems. Apart from technical aspects legal factors and other deployment related aspects will be considered as well. The basis for this work will be studies into sensor technologies and sensor algorithms performed by TNO in 2001. These studies will be extended with the latest developments for sensors as well as actuators. This report presents the results of the literature survey. Sources used in the literature survey included: Proceedings of conferences like STAPP, IRCOBI, AIRBAG 2002, SAE Scientific journals SAE global mobility database NHTSA website, Transport Canada website Studies into sensor technologies and sensor algorithms by TNO in 2001 Websites of restraint system manufacturers like Breed, TRW, Autoliv, sensor manufacturers like Bosch, Siemens This report can be divided in two main subjects: Restraint Systems and Intelligent Vehicle Systems. The second part of the in-vehicle safety study will focus more on the new trends including the link between active and passive safety via the use of anticipatory sensors to make restraint systems more efficient. An inventory of current and future active systems will be made as well as an overview of the most relevant components for such systems. Apart from technical aspects legal factors and other deployment related aspects will be considered as well. The basis for this work will be studies into sensor technologies and sensor algorithms performed by TNO in 2001.
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These studies will be extended with the latest developments for sensors as well as actuators. In this study, the term Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) is used for injury assessment. The AIS, first developed by the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine in 1971, is a consensus-derived, anatomically based system that ranks individual injuries by body region on a scale of 1 to 6 (1=minor, 2=moderate, 3=serious, 4=severe, 5=critical, and 6=maximum/currently untreatable). The AIS is intended as a measure of the severity of the injury itself and not as a measure of impairments or disabilities that may result from the injury. It does not assess the combined effects of multiple injuries to a patient. The AIS was revised and updated several times, with the most recent revision in 1990. In this report, the AIS level (i.e., AIS of 2 or more) refers to the maximum AIS level for that injury suffered by a vehicle occupant. The MAIS refers to the maximum AIS level (the most severe injury) for all injuries. This report aims to give an overview of restraint systems and technologies available in the current fleet and potentials for safety. In more detail, the content of this report includes:
Chapter 2: Restraint systems This chapter will describe current systems and will indicate its potential. Also expected effects of integrated safety systems is discussed. Chapter 3: Current drawbacks of restraint systems Although restraint systems have positive effects (will be shown in chapter 2) also less positive second order effects are observed. This chapter gives an overview of the problems. Chapter 4: Trends in restraint systems Chapter 4 describes the trends observed from literature. This also connects the first part of the literature survey with the second part since future trends in restraint systems include the use of adaptive, smart restraint systems. Chapter 5: Intelligent vehicle systems (IVS) Chapter 5 describes the new trends in vehicles like ACC emphasising the potential of Intelligent Vehicle Systems for enhancing safety. Chapter 6: Remote sensor technology IVS are based on remote sensors. These sensors will be increasingly implemented in future vehicles. A chapter is dedicated to this technology. Chapter 7: Conclusions This chapter shortly summarises the most important findings from this literature survey.
The glossary describing all abbreviations used in this report is given in Appendix A. A list of European projects in the field of IVS for safety is given in Appendix B. Some information on regulations involving restraint systems or intelligent vehicle systems is provided in Appendix C.
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Restraint systems
Restraint systems are systems that restraint the occupant and protect the occupant in case of crash. The introduction of restraints systems like airbags, seatbelts and energy absorbing interiors, considerably reduced the number of fatalities and casualties worldwide. The number of fatalities in road accidents in Europe, USA, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand for the last decades is shown in Figure 1 [95]. Despite of the increasing number of vehicles on the roads, the number of fatalities is still decreasing.
220000 fatalities world wide 200000 180000 160000 140000 120000 100000 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
Figure 1- Fatalities in road accidents world wide from 1965 until 2000, data from [95]
However, in the European Union, still approximately 40.000 people are killed in road traffic accidents and 1.5 millions casualties are reported each year. Social costs related to these deaths and casualties are estimated to be over 160 billion Euro [60], [144]. Decreasing the fatalities and injuries would reduce these costs enormously. The European Union set an ambitious goal to halve the number of people killed annually by 2010 [144]. The EU intends to contribute to this goal with actions on two levels: 1. Harmonisation of penalties and 2. Promotion of new technologies to improve road safety. The European guideline for cost effectiveness of safety measures is that a measure is cost effective if one fatality (and a particular number of (severe) injured people and material damage) is prevented at maximum cost of 1 million Euro [94]. This guideline is based on accident statistics for the complete European Union. Nowadays, cars are equipped with several restraint systems to prevent the occupant from being injured during a crash. Children require special restraint systems and for protection of these child occupants, child restraint systems are used in conjunction with adults restraint systems. This chapter describes the current (adults) restraint systems and its benefits. Limitations or drawbacks of current restraint systems are given in the next chapter.
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2.1
Safety belt systems
2.1.1
Description of belt systems Initially the only goal of seatbelts was to prevent total ejection of occupants from a car during a crash [23]. This was achieved with a single lap belt, introduced in car racing just after 1900. The next additional goal of seatbelts was to protect the occupants from violent impacts against interior structures. Adding a shoulder belt to the lap belt contributed to achieve this second goal. After the Second World War, different types of belts were introduced in private cars (for example Volvo and Saab in 1956). For well functioning of the belt, the geometry of the belt and hence the location of the anchorage points was shown to be important. The last decades, seat belts were enhanced by additional features like force limiters and pretensioners, see section 2.1.2 and 2.1.3. Current conventional seat belt systems are the three-point belts, in which the shoulder belt upper anchor is mounted to the vehicle body (B-pillar), see Figure 2.
Figure 2 Conventional three- point belt system [96]
Properly fastened safety belts distribute the forces of rapid deceleration over larger and stronger parts of the persons body like chest, hips and shoulders. The safety belt stretches slightly to slow the body down and to increase its stopping distance. The location of the belt at the occupants body during a crash is essential for proper functioning of the belt. For example, if the lap belt is located too high, the occupant can slip under a loosely tightened seat belt, which is called sub-marining. More and more, belt systems are integrated in the seats; see section 2.2. Seat belts are multi-functional, e.g. work in all different types of accidents like frontal, side, rear end and rollover. Current belt systems include [24] Retractor; a spool, which is attached to one end of the webbing. Inside the retractor, a spring applies a rotation force to the spool to rotate the spool so it winds up any loose webbing, see Figure 3. Buckle, which must be able to withstand high forces as well as open easily even upon heavy loading, Height adjuster to achieve correct belt geometry (manual or automatic),
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Load limiter integrated in the retractor to keep the maximum belt force at a predefined, controlled level, Pretensioner to tighten the belt during the very first fractions of a crash.
Figure 3 Left panel: drawing of retractor, right panel, drawing of pretensioner [97]
Some details on pretensioners and load limiters are given in the next sub-sections. 2.1.2 Pretensioners Pretensioners were introduced in 1984 [25] and remove slack from the belt (tighten the belt) early in the crash event using a small pyrotechnic charge to push the occupants to their seat during the crash. Modern pretensioners typically use the same sensor as the airbag. Pretensioners can tighten the belt up to 15 cm by pulling the seatbelt buckle towards the floor (Buckle pretensioner) or by operating the retractor (Roto pretensioner) [24]. The potential for dual belt pretension was investigated by Renault [20]. Accident analysis of LAB data in this study showed improvements for the protection of the upper body of belted occupants as a result of improved restraint systems (load limited belts & airbags), and reduction of passenger compartment deformation. However, leg protection of front seat occupants still could be improved and therefore, a dual belt system is proposed, consisting of a buckle lap-belt pretensioner and an outer lap-belt pretensioner. The buckle pretensioner is fired first, a few ms later the outer belt pretensioner is fired with a typical time interval of 10 ms in an offset frontal crash situation. Benefit of the dual belt pretension system over single pretension in terms of reduced pelvis acceleration and velocity (peak velocity from 3.5 m/s to 2 m/s) was presented. 2.1.3 Load limiter Load limiters were introduced in 1995 [24] and keep the belt force at predefined, controlled level. A mechanism in the retractor allows webbing to be pulled out slightly when belt loads become too high. Normally a pre-set limit of 4 kN is used. There are several technical solutions to achieve the load limiting. A typical solution is provided by a bar holding the spindle with the webbing within the retractor, see Figure 4. If the force from the webbing exceeds the limit, the end of the bar turns and reduces the load on the occupants chest.
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Figure 4 Load limiter [24]
In 2000, Autoliv introduced 2-stage load limiters to keep the load on the occupants chest constant during the whole crash [24]. During a crash, initially the occupant is only restraint by the belt, which demands a relatively high belt force. As soon as the occupant moves forward into the airbag, the belts load limit is reduced since the airbag takes over part of the occupants load. 2.1.4 Potential of belts to increase safety In several studies, modern seat belts have been shown to reduce injury risk in frontal crashes with about 50% [61]. A recent study published in the Journal of Accident Analysis and Prevention estimated that seat belt use by front-seat passengers reduced the risk of death in a crash even by about 61% [139]. However, it is also known that in about 50% of severe crashes, seat belts are not worn [47]. The major excuse of non-belt usage is discomfort and inconvenience in using the belt. Comfort and usability was, amongst others, studied by Delphi Automotive Systems [48] by means of a questionnaire study (194 respondents). The most significant problems were found as belt trapping in the door, awkward negotiating with clothes, belt twisting, belts locking up and difficulty to locate the buckle. A more extensive study about non-users reasons for not wearing the seat belt was performed by VTI [136]. Drivers not using the seat belt (435 drivers) were interviewed and, amongst others, asked for the reason not to wear the seatbelt. Results for this particular question are summarised in Table 1. From this study it was concluded that the basic attitude of these drivers to seat belts was in most cases positive, since the main reasons not to wear the seat belt were not very principle. The institute for road safety research in the Netherlands (SWOV) published the reasons not to wear the seat belt amongst Dutch drivers [137], see Table 2. Main reason for the Dutch drivers in 2000 not to wear a belt is simply forgot, indicating that seat wear reminder systems could reduce the amount of non-wearing seat belt drivers.
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Table 1: Results Swedish interview: why did you not use the seat belt on this occasion? [136]
Reason Only a short trip Carelessness Forgot, forgetfulness Stressed, in a hurry Professional driving, job Had no time to put it on yet Habit, bad habit Uncomfortable to wear Do not use as a matter of principle Feel locked in Only urban trip Frequent stops Cumbersome to put on Belt is / can be dangerous Belt is not necessary Restricts reach Dont know, no answer Drives (drove) slowly Avoids accidents Interference with clothes Tired Usually always wears belt Bold lines represent the hard resistance group. % 34,5 32,9 23,0 10,6 10,6 4,5 4,5 3,4 3,4 2,8 2,3 1,8 1,6 1,4 0,9 0,9 0.9 0,7 0,7 0,7 0,7 0,7
Table 2: Results Dutch study: reasons not to wear the belt [137]
Reason Forgot Uncomfortable Unnecessary Dangerous % 1998 31 31 9 3 % 2000 46 20 10 3
Seat belt wear percentage for several countries around the world is presented in Figure 5 [98]. Dependent on the road type, different improvement of sear wear rates is possible.
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Figure 5 Seat belt wearing rates for car drivers in 2000 [98]
To increase the seat belt wear percentage, seat belt reminder systems are currently on the market as an addition to the conventional belt systems described in section 2.1. EEVC working group 16, Advanced Frontal Crash Protection, studied the potential of technical means to increase the use of seat belts in cars and proposed specifications for such systems with special interest for reminder systems [47]. One of the recommendations of the EEVC working group for seat belt reminder systems was that a seat belt reminder system should not affect drive-ability of the vehicle and should consist of a progressive reminder system with audible and visual signals. Seat use detection was recommended also for other seats than the driver seat with a lower limit of a 5th % female to avoid false signals by small luggage or ISOFIX child restraint systems. It was also recommended that the seat belt reminder systems should have disconnection possibilities. Currently seat belt reminder systems are taken into account with EuroNCAP tests on voluntary base [appendix C.4]. Effectiveness of Fords belt reminder system in increasing seat belt use in the US was investigated by IIHS [138]. An observational survey was conducted to compare driver belt use in 2000-2002 models with belt reminders with belt use in 1998-2001 models without reminders. The overall use rates were estimated as 71% for drivers of vehicles without belt reminders and 76% for drivers of vehicles with reminders. This increase in belt wearing was statistically significant. Evans summarised technical evidence for the effectiveness of safety belts in [117]. From impact biomechanics it is known that belts prevent the occupant from hitting the interior of the vehicle, or reduce the severity of such impact. Forces on the occupant are spread over a larger body area and the deceleration is spread over a longer time. Besides, belts prevent ejection from the vehicle. The belt effectiveness at reducing driver fatality risk, averaged for all types of crashes, is in the range 38% to 46%. In case of rollover, the belt is 80% effective in preventing driver fatalities if rollover is the first event. Also the effect of the belt wearing law in the UK was described: a 23% decrease of fatalities was reported in the 11 months after the law [146].
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Reduced fatalities related to rear seat shoulder belts were reported in [143]. It was shown that death rates in cars equipped with shoulder belts in rear seats were substantially lower that in cars equipped with lap belts at prevalent use rates. Therefore, it was concluded that shoulder belts reduce the risk of death compared to lap belts without shoulder belts. Rollover restraint performance with and without seat belt pretensioner was investigated in [120]. Research tests according to a modified FMVSS 208 dolly rollover test were conducted in which drivers and front seated passengers restraint performance were analysed. The rollover test method resulted in unrepeatable vehicle dynamics, but nevertheless, proper restraint performance was shown. It was concluded that the maximum occupant injury values did not indicate any improved protection for the tests with pretensioners activated, compared to the tests without pretensioners. It was noted that the pretensioners used in this study were not designed for rollover application.
2.2
Seats
2.2.1
Seat design aspects In the past, the seats were particularly important as far as comfort was concerned. Seat development was mainly comfort focussed. Besides importance in case of rear and side impact, also in frontal impact, the seat plays an important role in occupant prevention [1]. In particular anti-submarining pans are used to control the pelvis motion in the seat and to prevent the occupant from submarining under the lap belt. Whereas these devices used to consist of metal pressings that absorb impact energy by controlled deformation, nowadays a more variable anti-submarining device, an airbag within the seat, was introduced by Autoliv [22]. For side impact protection, seats have an important function in energy absorption. Geometry and material of the side bolsters influence seatoccupant interaction in a crash event. Also the strength of the seat adjustment is important for side impact protection. During rear impact, the occupant moves rearward relative to the vehicle and the seat back provides the primary restraint system for the occupant. Therefore seat design influences the injury potential. The influence of seat foam and geometrical properties on a dummys kinematic response to rear impacts was studied in [99]. It was concluded that for the three seats being subject of investigation in this study, the geometrical properties of the head restraint considerably more influence the occupant kinematics and thus whiplash associated disorder potential than seat foam properties. This conclusion confirms other (previous) studies in which reduced distance between head restraint and the back of the head and increased height of the head restraint were shown to be important for injury reduction [100], [101], [102]. For the influence of seat foam properties, contradictory conclusions were reported and the influence of the material properties compared to the geometrical characteristics was limited. A new generation of yielding seats was described by Viano, [130], see also Figure 6. The compliance of the high retention (HR) seat is an important factor in the reduction of whiplash risks, see section 2.2.2.
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Figure 6 New generation of yielding seats, example of high retention seat [130].
Also Autoliv introduced an Anti-Whiplash Seat (AWS) for front seat occupants, which has a yieldable backrest that will be tilted in a controlled way in a rear-end collision. The aim is to absorb energy and reduce the forward rebound of the occupant [24]. Volvo developed and published the WHIPS seat concept [141], [142]. The WHIPS project followed the whole chain, from accident research and biomechanical knowledge, towards interpretation of the knowledge, condensed into guidelines and requirements, resulting in seat development and validation. This holistic approach was needed because the injury mechanisms for whiplash are still not fully clarified. The following guidelines for dealing with the Whiplash problem were identified: 1. Reduce occupant acceleration 2. Minimise the relative movement between adjacent vertebrae in the occipital joint 3. Minimise the forward rebound into the seat belt. The recliner of WHIPS was designed to give a controlled rearward motion of the backrest in a rear-end impact, thereby, improving the closeness to the occupants head and back, absorbing energy and reducing the occupants forward rebound. A Self-Aligning Head Restraint (SAHR), also called Saab-Active Head Restraint) was designed to move upward and forward by occupant motion in a rear crash, providing earlier neck support, even when the head restraint is positioned low [147].
Figure 7- SAHR mechanism [147].
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SAHR uses the momentum of the occupant pressing into the seatback in a rear crash to raise and move the restraint forward, providing earlier head neck support and lowering loads causing neck extension. Potentials are described in section 2.2.2. A Seat Integrated Restraint (SIR) system has the shoulder belt upper anchor mounted on the top of the seat back frame, see Figure 8. SIR systems provide better belt fit, better belt access and greater comfort to the occupants and therefore add to customer satisfaction.
Figure 8 Examples of seat integrated belt system, left panel [24], right panel [10].
Design targets for seat integrated restraint systems for optimal occupant protection were amongst others studied by Ford Motor Company [10]. Also in case of a seat-integratedrestraint (SIR), the stiffness of the seat and the floor underneath the seat play a significant role in protection for frontal impact situations. Working of a prototype SIR system, equipped with belt pretensioner and load limiting retractor and additional dual stage driver airbags, was investigated by computer simulation with the simulation package MADYMO [10]. Seat excursion, referred to as the total forward displacement of the shoulder belt upper anchor relative to the vehicle, was shown to be an important parameter to optimise the SIR system and should be limited. Proper structural design of the seat, seat attachment and structural design of the floor were indicated as the key parameters to influence seat excursion. When choosing seat excursion as a design parameter, it is important to make a distinction between the contribution to excursion of the seat and its underlying structure. Since seat excursion is also dependent on vehicle pulse and pitch, the design targets of seat/floor stiffness can not be generic for all types of vehicles. Proper selection of belt retractor, airbag vent size and dual stage inflators lag time contribute to lower injury values. 2.2.2 Potential of seats to increase safety The potential of seats to increase occupant safety lie both in the head restraint and the seat structure itself, although for the latter different opinions were found in literature. Better head restraint systems could contribute to reduction of the neck injuries in rear impacts [134]. Yearly, more than one million European citizens suffer neck injuries from car collisions. About 50% of these neck injuries occur in rear-end impacts. The 5th framework European project WHIPLASH-2 [134] aims to reduce the risk and societal costs of low-severity neck injuries in car collisions by at least 40%, by means of the introduction of safer vehicle designs.
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Identification of issues relevant to regulation in the US, design and effectiveness of head restraints was given by NHTSA [127]. In 1982, effectiveness of integral restraints (seat with non-adjustable integrated head restraint) was estimated about 17% and for adjustable head restraints about 10%. This difference was caused by the fact that adjustable restraints were not always used properly. Often, adjustable head restraints were left in lowest position. Only limited scientific information is available on claims of injury risk reduction in rear impact due to new seat concepts. Volvo developed and published the WHIPS seat concept [141], [142], see section 2.2.1. Results of sled tests suggested considerable potential for improved neck injury protection in rear-end impacts. No concrete numbers were given. Effectiveness of a Self-Aligning Head Restraint (SAHR) in preventing Whiplash was investigated in [147]. The study evaluated the field performance of SAHR by means of questionnaire mailing to the occupants involved in rear crashes, phone interviews and reviewing of insurance and medical records. 177 cases, 85 with standard head restraint and 92 with SAHR were included. It was concluded that SAHR reduced whiplash injury risks by 7511%, from an 185% occurrence out of 85 occupants with standard head restraints to 43% occurrence out of 92 occupants with SAHR. Some indication on positive effects of the correct use of head restraints were found in [125], in which soft tissue neck injuries after rear-end collisions were reported. 245 accident cases from the GDV 1990 database (Germany) were analysed with the following characteristics: rear-end collision, single impact, claimed cervical spine injury and good documentation. The cases were divided into 4 groups; lowest fixation, highest fixation, medium fixation (in between low & high) and no head restraint. It was concluded that it is better to have no head restraint than having one that is too low adjusted. A high head restraint position was found to reduce the cervical spine injury risk. The risk of whiplash injury in the rear seat compared to the front seat in rear impacts was investigated by Folksam Research et al, [135]. In total 195 cases with both frontand rear seat passengers in the struck car were analysed with at least one occupant who sustained permanent disability. It was concluded that there was a significantly higher disability risk for the female rear seat occupant compared to the mail driver. Also higher risks for the female rear-seat occupant were found compared to the female front-seat passengers. The risk of permanent disability was four times higher for females in the rear seat, compared to males in the rear seat. For drivers, the risk of permanent disability was three times higher for female drivers than for male drivers. Relationships between passenger car seat back strength and occupant injury severity in rear end collisions were, amongst others, studied in [126]. Several seats with different seat back stiffness and geometry were evaluated in dynamic Hyge rear impact sled tests. Results of these tests indicated no consistent advantage of stiffer seats over yielding seats for the complete range of speeds tested. Moreover, indications were found that stiffer seats could increase the incidence of neck injuries in real world. The most sensitive response to seat design and crash severity was the lower neck extension moment. The effect of stiff and yielding seats and energy transfer to an occupant in rear crashes was also described in [130]. This (more recent) study showed more clearly benefits of a yielding seat back over a stiff seat on occupant dynamics in rear crashes. The yielding
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seat back developed about 15% lower forces on the occupant and a more gradual forward acceleration of the occupant was observed. Effectiveness of High-Retention (HR) seats (see also Figure 6) in preventing fatality was studied in [140]. After 5 years of phase-in of HR seats, accident analysis with FARS data was undertaken to determine the initial field performance of the HR seats in preventing fatalities. The fatal crash information consisted of samples from FARS from 1991-2000. FARS data analysis showed 50% reduction of the risk of driver fatalities in single-vehicle rear crashes and 59% reduction of the risk of front occupant fatalities using the HR seat. For two vehicle rear impact crashes, the HR seat reduced the risk of driver fatality by 54% and the front occupant fatality risk by 35%. It was noted that more field data is needed to increase the confidence in the results. However, the initial trends showed that high-retention seats are effective in reducing the risk of fatal injury in single vehicle and light vehicle-to-vehicle rear impacts. 2.3 Airbags
2.3.1
Description of airbag systems Airbags are inflatable restraints, which are connected to sensors that detect certain sudden deceleration. Airbags were introduced in 1973 by General Motors [25]. A general description of airbag working principles was, amongst others, found in [2] and [3]. In case of activation of the airbag, the sensor ignites a chemical propellant by means of an electrical signal. The propellant (inflator) produces gas that inflates the airbag. Enough gas is needed to prevent the airbag from bottoming out against the vehicle interior when an occupant is hitting the airbag. Therefore, the airbag pressure has to be carefully controlled by vents and outflow through the airbag fabric (permeability of the fabric material). The airbag fabric material is nylon. Airbags systems consist of an electronic control unit and the airbag module itself. The electronic control unit is usually located in the middle of the car or mounted in the steering wheel (in case of a driver airbag). The sensor that sends this information into a microprocessor continuously monitors the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle. In the microprocessor, the crash algorithm (different for each specific car model) is stored and continuously compared to the sensor signal. If the microprocessor recognises the specific crash pulse, an electrical signal is given and the airbags are fired. Different types of inflators are used. Single stage inflators fill air bags with the same level of power in all crashes, regardless of whether the crash is a relatively low or highspeed crash. Multi-stage inflators (mostly dual stage) consist of multi (two) independent inflators and enable a more controlled airbag deployment. In case of a low severity crash, only the first stage is fired, whereas in case of a high severity crash, both stages are fired. High severity crashes require higher airbag pressure to prevent the occupant from hitting the vehicle interior. The main challenge for airbag systems is that they have to satisfy all protection requirements in different vehicle crash scenarios and for different occupant sizes. For both high-severity crashes (fast airbag deployment demanded) and low severity crashes (gentle airbag deployment demanded), the occupant should be optimally protected and hard contact of the occupant with the car interior should be avoided. Different types of airbags (frontal, side etc) with different deployment times are developed for the
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different types of crashes. The following subsections will describe the different types of airbags an their effects in more detail. 2.3.2 Frontal airbags Frontal airbags protect the head and the upper body of the occupant in frontal crashes, see Figure 9.
Figure 9 - 5th percentile dummy in frontal crash test: scenario without an airbag (left), scenario with an airbag(right) [148].
The main function of frontal airbags is to prevent hard contact between the occupant and the steering column / interior panel / windshield during a crash. The airbag should therefore be properly positioned between the occupant and the car interior. Typical sizes of frontal airbags vary for cars in different countries, depending on seat belt wear obligation. In the US, wearing belts is not compulsory and a larger volume within the car has to be filled by the airbag. Typical airbag sizes for the US are 65-80 litre for driver airbags (fitted in the steering wheel) and 150-160 litre for passenger airbags (fitted in the interior panel at passenger side). For Europe and Japan, where wearing belts is compulsory, smaller airbags are appropriate (35-60 litre for driver airbags and 80-120 litre for passenger airbags) [4]. Airbag deployment takes about 30-50 ms. A smart driver airbag concept called ring-airbag was presented by Audi in 2002 [15], see Figure 10.
Figure 10 Ring-airbag concept [15].
This ring-airbag was developed to meet all requirements of consumer protection and legislation taking into account sophisticated styling freedom. The new Audi A8 contains a fixed airbag module centre together with a ring-airbag.
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On the one hand, airbags have to be positioned in time and should have enough energy absorbing capabilities to protect the occupant. On the other hand, occupants in out-ofposition require limited inflation pulse through the airbag. This can be reached for example by avoiding contact between module flap and occupant, improved folding, radial deployment, or controlled unfolding. The smart ring-airbag concept includes all these measures. Tests showed that the ring-airbag fulfils all safety requirements and improves results for low risk deployment FMVSS 208 tests (for information on fmvss208, see section C.2.2). 2.3.3 Potential of frontal airbags to increase safety Frontal airbags have been shown to be highly effective in saving lives. Effectiveness of airbags in preventing fatalities was already studied in 1990 by Evans [75]. It was assumed that frontal airbags protect only in frontal or near frontal crashes and do not affect the ejection probability. Airbag effectiveness in preventing fatalities was estimated as 184% for drivers and 134% for passengers. Lap/shoulder belted drivers who stop wearing belts because of airbag presence would increase their fatality risk by over 40%. Frontal airbag benefits/dis-benefits in European vehicles were evaluated with a combined statistical and case study approach by VSRC Loughborough University [40]. The statistical evaluation was based on accident cases from 1996-2001, collected within the UK Co-operative Crash Injury Study. In total about 2300 cases were evaluated, divided in equipped, non-equipped and belted/unbelted. Differences in car performance due to improved seat belt systems and structural changes in newer cars were taken into account. The maximum AIS (MAIS) of each occupant was used to compare overall injury severity between the non-equipped and the equipped samples for the belted and unbelted driver groups. For the belted drivers, 32% of the non-equipped drivers had MAIS 2, for equipped drivers only 24% had a MAIS 2. For the unbelted group, the difference was much smaller (40% non-equipped to 37% equipped). Only the reduction for the belted group was statistically significant. For head injury, less severe injuries are reported for equipped vehicles with respect to non-equipped vehicles for both belted and unbelted drivers. Previous studies identified an increased injury risk for head injuries for short stature drivers but this trend was confirmed in this study for nonequipped cars only. Crash circumstances in which AIS 2 head injury occurred in airbag equipped vehicles included high equivalent test speed (ETS), under-run, and interaction with heavier vehicles or poles. It was suggested that airbag systems might have difficulty in sensing impacts to narrow objects. A small (statistically insignificant) increase in the rate of neck strain (AIS 1 injury) was observed for equipped belted drivers with respect to non equipped belted drivers and a decrease for unbelted drivers. For thoracic injury, reduced injuries in case of equipped cars were observed for both belted and unbelted drivers. Statistically no increase was found in the rate of burns, abrasions or contusions to face or neck for belted and unbelted drivers in airbag equipped vehicles, but some examples were reported in the case review (see section 3.2 on injuries). For lower arms and hands significant increases of rate of abrasions, burns and contusions were found for belted drivers in equipped cars. However, these were not severe injuries (AIS 1). Generally it was concluded that airbags are more effective in preventing injury when worn in conjunction with the seatbelt, since absence of the seat belt allows forward excursion into the airbag deployment zone. Airbag benefits were confirmed also by a recent study of the Institute for Vehicle Safety in Germany, GDV [46]. About 700 cases involving airbag-equipped cars, from which
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92% since 1997, were studied. Not only for the driver, but also for the front seat passenger the study confirmed major safety benefits of airbags. The proportion of severe and fatal injuries both to driver and front passenger is about 20% lower than without airbags. With the first generation airbags unexpected fatalities were reported, particularly in low speed crashes [2]. As a result, depowered airbags (less power when inflating) were developed from 1997 on. The performance of these depowered airbags was investigated by William Lehman Injury Research Center [5]. In this study, it is concluded that the performance of the depowered airbags has been very good. High-speed protection at crash severities > 40 mph has been observed for both restrained and unrestrained occupants, despite of the depowered airbags. 2.3.4 Side airbags for chest and head & curtain airbags Side impacts represent the second greatest cause of fatalities in passenger car incidents [62]. After the standardisation of frontal airbags, vehicle manufacturers started developing dynamically deploying upper-interior head and thorax protection systems (introduction started in 1994). These systems provide additional occupant protection of head, neck and thorax area and also prevent the occupant being ejected from the vehicle during lateral crashes. Development of side-airbags is more complex than development of frontal airbags since in frontal impacts, much energy is absorbed by bumper, hood and engine, whereas in side-impact, the occupant is much closer to the incoming vehicle and only the door and some additional space is in between [16]. Therefore for sideairbags, typical inflating times are 7-15 ms, which is much lower than for frontal airbags [62]. The mounting location of side airbags is different for different types of cars. Installation in the seat back has the advantage that passengers of all sizes are protected regardless of seat position. Installation in the door has the advantage that within the door, there is enough space to enable acceptable coverage. Autoliv introduced thorax airbags for side-impact protection in 1994 [24]. The goal of this bag is to keep the occupant away from the impact zone and to damp the slap from the intruding side of the vehicle. The thorax bag, mounted in the seat, is inflated within 12 ms and typical volumes are about 12 litre. The electronic control unit is located in the backrests of the front seats and the sensor is located in the sill or the B-pillar. An extension from the regular thorax bag is the head thorax bag, which covers the chest area as well as the head area. Side protection systems for today and near future are described by Volkswagen [17]. To improve side impact occupant protection several steps were taken in the past. The first step was to raise the stiffness of the cars side structure to reduce the collision speed between door and occupant. The second step was to optimise the contact area between door and passenger to distribute the force and avoid localised loads. The next step was the introduction of a side airbag system, like a combined thorax pelvis airbag, that has two functions: equal pressure distribution and early contact between door and occupant to accelerate the occupant at the lowest possible risk. Disposal of airbag modules is mentioned as an important aspect, which influences for example gas generator types (preferably without azide). Volkswagen introduced a fault-tolerant side-bag module; in case of no-intrusion, vent holes at the backside are not closed and the airbag is not deployed. In case of intrusion, the intruding door closes vent holes.
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Interaction of the hand and wrist with a door handgrip during static side airbag deployment using CVS/ATB multi-body simulation program was studied by University of Virginia Automobile Safety Laboratory [12]. The objective was to quantify the relative severity of various hand- and handgrip positions to select a general test matrix for laboratory testing. Amongst others, handgrip length, angle, and spacing and initial position and orientation of the distal forearm and hand were varied. Sensitivity of the results to initial hand position and wrist orientation with respect to the handgrip was shown. Furthermore, concerns about bio-fidelity of the current ATDs (in particular shoulder region) were expressed. 2.3.5 Potential of side airbags to improve safety Because the accident statistics are always some years behind and side and curtain airbags are not included in each vehicle on the road, not much accident data is available showing benefits of these airbags by accident statistics. Comparison of real world side impact/rollover collisions with and without thorax airbag/head protection system: a first field experience study was published by BMW [149]. 24 side collisions were evaluated, 14 without and 10 with head protection system / thorax airbag (HPS/TA) of BMW. An increase in AIS 1 injuries was reported (head by 29%, thorax by 3%, neck by 6%), except for the upper extremities (reduction by 4%) in case of HPS/TA, with respect to the cases with HPS/TA. No serious injuries were reported in side impacts in case of HPS/TA. Note that no statistically valid statement was permitted with these available data. Via the NHTSA Website, a recent Powerpoint presentation was obtained (October 2001) on real world experience of side impact airbags in the special crash investigations [118]. 55 side airbag cases were analysed. The study concluded that no fatalities have been attributed to the deployment of a side airbag. Only one case was reported in which the occupant was seriously injured by a door mounted side airbag. Furthermore it was concluded that head injuries were reduced by the head protection side airbag, but no estimation in percentages was given. It was found that passenger compartment intrusion is the primary contributor to fatalities in side impact. Some additional safety benefit was observed for side head and thorax airbags in a German study [46]. However, due to the small number of cases the results can not be called statistically significant. 2.3.6 Special head protection airbags and curtain airbags Curtain airbags were introduced from 1998 onwards. To prevent head and neck injuries, amongst others Volkswagen introduced the head-bag, a curtain-shaped inflatable structure, which emerges from the roof rail and protects the head of the occupant from the windows [17]. Autoliv [24] also introduced the first airbag for specific head protection on BMW cars (1997), called the Inflatable Tubular Structure (ITS). The ITS, installed in the head-liner above the front doors, consists of a nylon tube that inflates to a diameter of about 15 cm., see Figure 11.
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Figure 11 ITS (left panel) and curtain airbag (right panel) [24]
For development of curtain airbags; particularly important are system parameters like inflation time, fill capacity, and the time the airbag stays inflated during side impact and rollover crashes [13]. Deployment timing of side airbags is determined by airbag configuration, distance of inflator to airbag and inflator mass flow characteristics. Simula Automotive Safety Devices [43] presented an innovative inflator, designed to reduce inflation time for roof-rail airbags by means of using a linear charge in longitudinal direction within the airbag. The Distributed Charge Inflator (DCITM) contains a small flexible pyrotechnic cord (the linear charge) which ignites through the length of the airbag within 2 ms and a sustainer charge at the beginning of the airbag that maintains bag pressure for protection in secondary crash events or rollovers. A DCI approach enables reduction of inflator package size and enables faster filling of the airbag without increasing risk for injuries in case of OOP situations. It was shown that the bag inflates faster with the DCI system, indicating that the time-to-position the airbag is smaller. At the same time, the injury risk in case of OOP did not increase. It was concluded in this study that: time to position is not an accurate predictor of OOP injury new distributed inflation approach results in higher mass flow rate than conventional systems, without associated OOP injury risk reduced deployment timing with new distributed inflation system was reached without increasing OOP injury risk. Due to changing fleet composition and possibly related to the introduction of ABS systems, the number of rollover accidents increases, see also section 5.1.1. Injuries in rollover accidents are mainly caused by ejection of the occupant through the side panel and head contact to exterior objects and interior surfaces. To reduce injuries in rollover impacts, curtain airbag systems were developed. For correct functioning of these systems, knowledge of occupant kinematics prior to the rollover is required to be sure on correct timing of bag deployment. Although curtain airbag systems should protect the occupant, incorrect deployment could result in occupants injuries as well. Several rollover initiation types are distinguished from which tripping is the most occurring type (according to NASS data US). Ford and TRW [44] presented a study on dummy head kinematics in tripped rollover tests and a new test method to evaluate the effect of curtain airbag deployment. The Deceleration Rollover Sled (DRS) was used to perform 9 dynamic rollover tests in which side-window position (up/down), deployment-time and g-level (height of curbs) were varied. Results of the dynamic test were used to define a new static test, referred to as Head On Glass test (HOG), to study interaction of the curtain airbag with the dummy without performing full scale tests. It was concluded
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that this new static test successfully could be used to measure the risk of injury during airbag deployment. 2.3.7 Potential of head airbags and curtain airbags to increase safety No real world accident statistics on effectiveness of head airbags and curtain airbags were found because of the relatively recent introduction of these protection systems. However, the use of simulation techniques for investigations towards effectiveness of restraint systems is reported more and more in literature. A virtual approach to develop inflatable curtains was presented by Autoliv [45]. CAE based development of head protection systems was described using advanced simulation tools to mesh, fold and reintegrate the inflatable curtain in the vehicle roof structure. The airbag model was used to investigate and optimise interaction between the curtain and the upper interior trim parts as well as the system restraint performance for both in-position and out-ofposition load cases. Future research directions were suggested in the field of improved dummy models and improved airbag gas dynamics to take into account gas flow effects. The field experience study cited in the section potential of side airbags to improve safety also investigated rollover collisions with and without Head Protection Systems / Thorax Airbag (HPS/TA) [149]. 49 rollover crashes with BMWs were analysed from which 9 included a HPS/TA, and 40 did not. It was concluded that AIS 1 injuries increased using HPS/TA (head by 45%, thorax by 8%, upper extremities by 7%), compared to no HPS/TA, but only 1 AIS2+ injury was reported. It was stated that the HPS was responsible to a greater extent than the TA for the reduction of serious injuries. It is noted that no statistically valid statements were permitted because of the currently available data. The EU rollover project (started July 2002, will run 3 years in total) has the objective to assist European restraint and vehicle manufacturers to develop effective rollover systems in a cost efficient manner. After implementation of such systems, increased protection to members of European society who travel by car is expected [152]. 2.3.8 Other airbags This subsection describes airbag systems that are currently on the market but not included yet in most standard car equipment. Knee airbags & pyrotechnic knee bolster Leg injuries are the most frequent problem in frontal crashes for occupants who are protected by airbags and wearing seat belts (about 40% of the injuries are leg injuries) [57]. Autoliv [24] introduced knee airbags in 1996. The airbag is mounted in the lower part of the instrument panel and deploys towards the occupants legs, hence preventing hard contact between the knee and the interior panel / steering column. Knee airbags belong to the standard equipment of 2003s Toyota Avensis. Faurecia developed a pyrotechnic knee bolster and investigated its contribution to car drivers safety by means of virtual testing [49]. To keep the clearance space between the legs and the dashboard as small as possible to limit impact velocity, the knee padding is moved as close as possible to the knees in case of a frontal crash by means of a pyrotechnic activator. This pyrotechnic knee bolster improves car driver safety because of reduction of sub-marining risk, reduction of pelvis and chest acceleration, avoiding contact between the knees and rigid parts of steering column and dashboards.
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Footwell airbags Footwell deformation during accidents can cause lower leg injuries and therefore, Siemens developed a foot airbag to be placed underneath the drivers side carpet to reduce lower leg injuries [63]. Siemens states that in sled tests, the foot airbag demonstrated a reduction of lower extremity injuries by as much as 70%. However, no further scientific publications or references could be found to confirm this statement. Autoliv [63] is currently developing an inflatable carpet to protect car occupants feet, ankles and lower legs from the intruding footwell of a vehicle during crash. Lower limb injury mitigation from this inflatable carpet was evaluated in sled tests with intrusion by the University of Virginia [64]. Sled tests were performed at a velocity of 56 km/h with a belted hybrid III occupant and a simulated knee bolster and steering wheel airbag. A new toepan intrusion system was successfully built to produce repeatable intrusion. It was concluded that the inflatable carpet has the potential to reduce lower limb injury risk from footwell intrusion for low severity injuries. However, design optimisation is needed to enable optimal handling of both translational and combined translational and rotational toepan motion. 2.4 Interior panels and retractable steering columns In crash terminology, the first impact is often defined as the real crash event, whereas the second impact is defined as the occupant hitting the car interior. The restraint systems as described in the previous sections, amongst others, try to reduce the negative effects of the second impact; e.g. they try to prevent the occupant from hitting the car interior. For this second impact, materials for car interiors also can contribute to reduction of injuries by softening the contact between the occupant and vehicle interior. For example, soft knee bolsters are applied in the dashboard or steering column to absorb kinetic energy of impact and to avoid contact between the knees and rigid parts of the interior. Kettering University presented high-speed measurement of contact pressure and area during knee-to-instrument-panel (IP) impact events suffered from frontal crashes [66]. The aim of the study was to present a new methodology to study contact mechanisms of the knee IP contact event (measure the pressure distribution in time instead of a cumulative pressure distribution measurement as normally used before). Previous human cadaver impact studies showed that increasing the contact area of the anterior (front) surface of the knee may significantly reduce injuries to knee, femoral shaft and hip. In the current study, sled tests were performed with similar impact velocities for different knee bolster materials. The 5th % female Hybrid III dummy was equipped with an electronic pressure mat over the anterior surface of the knee to measure temporal pressure distribution as a result a knee-IP contact. Also femur and tibia loads were recorded. It was shown that stiffer IPs resulted in higher peak loads and lower contact areas. A limitation of this study is that the pressure mat sensors are designed to measure loads normal to the surface of contact, whereas dummy instrumentation may have different orientations. Further the pressure mat generates a discontinuous signal, in this specific case the spacing between the sensing elements was about 7 mm. There are two types of automotive instrument panels; hard and soft. The hard type is a mono-layer type and consists mostly of polypropylene. The soft type consists of three layers; skin, foam and core, from PVC, PU, PC, or ABS [69]. For the soft type, PVC dominated the market for the skin layer but PVC is being eliminated due to
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environmental reasons and poor low temperature resistance in long term performance. Several articles on new interior panel (materials) design were found of which a few with focus on safety issues are discussed below. Materials used for upper interior-trim components must meet ECE/R.21, equivalent to FMVSS 201U targets for energy absorption (see appendix C.2.1 and C.2.2 for some details on ECE/R.21 and FMVSS 201u), but must also be ductile at low temperatures for proper performance during low temperature airbag deployment. Other critical factors for the material to be used include the ease of processing, aesthetics and costs. Typically, molded-in ribs are used for energy absorbing in the B-pillar. Traditional interior resins include engineering alloys, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polypropylene (PP) and PVC. Solvay Engineered Polymers investigated the performance of thermoplastic polyolefins in automotive roof-pillar covers involved with interior head impact and roof-rail or side airbag deployment [14]. From this study, it was concluded that compounded thermoplastic polyolefins offer a good balance of stiffness and low-temperature ductility in roof-rail airbag head impact and seat airbag applications, with improved moldability and cost savings. Hyundai Motor Company and Honam Petrochemical investigated the characteristics of soft thermoplastic olefin (TPO) to replace PVC in the skin of instrument panels [69]. The effects on melt strength, viscosity and types of rubber were studied as well as vacuum thermoforming and physical properties (thermal and light resistance) of TPO. It was concluded that TPO must have over 50% of rubber and in that case showed the wanted ductile fracture. In traditional instrument panel (IP) constructions, a metal cross-car beam and steel reinforcement parts were providing the stiffness of the structure. More recently (from 1994 on), IPs without a cross-car beam, called fully integrated structural IP, were introduced. In the integrated IPs the stiffness and strength are provided by the plastic IP, which results in weight and cost savings. Dow Chemical described engineering development of a fully integrated polypropylene (PP) instrument panel concept [68]. A PP rubber modified compound filled with 15% talc was used. The integrated IP concept was tested successfully using computer-aided-engineering in an EuroNCAP ODB test scenario, a side impact situation and head impact interior tests. To meet the ECE/R.21 requirements, the rib patterns used for reinforcement in the passenger-airbag region were optimised. Another trend in automobile industry was to integrate the airbag door as part of the instrument panel by using the seamless airbag door technology. Visteon developed seamless airbag technology for a hard molded-in-color polypropylene (PP) instrument panel [67]. Requirements for seamless airbags are on the one hand correct deployment performance over a wide range (-30 to 85 C) of temperatures and on the other hand comply government regulations on interior head impact. Whereas correct deployment required a weak seam to enable correct airbag deployment even at low temperatures, head impact tests required a strong enough tear seam to prevent any panel cracking/sharp edges exposed after impact. The molded-in-color seamless passenger airbag subject of this specific study is currently on the market. More generally, invisible passenger airbag door systems have been widely introduced the last years and these increase the risk of small particles to be released from the dashboard with high velocity, see also section 3.2 on airbag induced injuries.
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Amongst others, Daimler Crysler presented a pyrotechnic-assist collapsible steering column [9]. The objective is to generate steering column motion away from the occupant and synchronize it with the airbag deployment. The idea is to release a steering column pin upon airbag deploying, which enables the upper and lower steering column telescoping together. The distance to the occupant is then increased and OOP injury risk reduced. It was demonstrated that 50-75 mm collapsing distance can significantly reduce OOP injury. 2.5 Integration of safety concepts Thusfar, this study focussed on functioning of the different restraint systems separately but this section will focus on integration of the different safety concepts. In particular modern cars have a stiffer front structure and a very rigid passenger cell, which is demanding for the safety systems and their interaction. The stiffer front structure is, amongst others, a result of more stringent regulations (i.e. crash tests with higher velocities that have to be passed). Relations between some systems as described in this chapter are summarised by [103] and given in Figure 12.
Figure 12 Schematic diagram of current production restraint system [103]
From Figure 12 it is clear that there is interaction between the control/diagnostics system of the airbag module and the firing of the pretensioners. How good this interaction works will strongly influence the total restraint systems performance. A summary of restraint system performance in the field, divided in belt, airbag and airbag + belt was presented in the book titled Airbag development and performance new perspectives from industry, government and academia [104], see Figure 13. The authors most important conclusion is that there is room for airbag performance improvement. In particular important is improvement of discrimination between crashes that require airbag deployment and crashed that do not. Increasing the deployment threshold is suggested to improve the performance.
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Figure 13 Summary of restraint performance in the field [104]
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An attempt to answer the question whether the new restraint systems result in limiting the risk for occupants involved in real crash conditions was done by [20] analysing the LAB database in frontal impact. Three groups of samples, related to model year and safety equipment were identified: 1. Accidents involving cars model year 1980-1990, no structural enhancement, 3point belt 2. Accidents involving cars model year after 1990, with structural enhancement, 3point belt + driver airbag (Eurobag) 3. Accidents involving cars model year after 1997, with structural enhancement, 3point belt with pre-tensioner +4kN belt load limitation + airbag (approved in combination with the load limiting belt) Some results of the study are shown in Figure 14 and Figure 15. Figure 14 shows that improvement of the vehicle crashworthiness in group 2, resulting in less intrusion to the passenger compartment and higher occupant deceleration, increased the injury risk for the thorax region of the passenger occupant. This is not the case for the driver, because of the driver airbag involved in group 2 vehicles. From group 2 to 3, a significant reduction of risk to both front seat occupants is observed as a result of the combination of belt load limitation and head and thorax airbag. Only the risk of moderate to severe lower limb injury is still very high, see Figure 15.
Figure 14 Variation of risk of fatality and severe injury to front seat occupants as a function of car generations, in frontal collisions [20]
Figure 15 Risk of minor to severe injury for abdomen and lower limbs, belted front seat occupants (LAB data 2002) [20]
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Influences of airbags in combination with seat belt pretensioners on AIS1 neck injuries for belted occupants in frontal impacts were studied in [123]. 158 frontal impacts were analysed from which the crash pulse was available from a crash recorder. Only neck injuries were considered in this study. It was concluded that airbags in combination with seat belt pretensioners resulted in a reduction of AIS1 neck injuries in frontal impacts of 41% ( 15.2%). In lower severity crashes, i.e. for impacts with V between 1 km/h and 30 km/h, reduction of the AIS1 neck injury risk with 59% 18.6% was found for airbag and seat belt pretensioner equipped cars. Better optimisation of belt and airbag performance as an integrated system could reduce injury risk. The German Insurance Association, Institute for Vehicle Safety [46] concluded that optimisation of the interaction between belt/airbag regarding the restraint of pelvis and chest could reduce severe injuries in thorax region and lower extremities. In particular aggressive impact of the knee against the dashboard was shown to be important.
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Side effects of restraint systems

In the previous chapter it was shown that improved restraint systems are responsible for a reduction of the number of fatalities due to road accidents in the last decade. However, each restraint system may also introduce a certain risk of injury caused by the system itself [40]. The additional risk induced by (in particular) airbag systems should be weighed against their benefits. It is important to be informed on possible injury risks due to restraint systems as reported in literature. This section first describes injuries caused by belts and airbags. Next the risks of an occupant being out-of-position are described, which is currently an important research topic in crash safety. Therefore a separate subsection is dealing with OOP. Finally injuries to specific groups of occupants, like children, elderly and extreme tall, fat or short people are described.
3.1
Injuries caused by belts Seat belts reduce the risk of fatal and serious injuries by about 45% [61]. However, in high-speed collisions, rib and abdominal injuries may occur in particular if the seat belt is not correctly positioned. Abdominal responses to dynamically lap belt loading were studied in [18]. Although seat belts have been shown to be effective in reducing the number of serious injuries in car crashes, also new types of injuries have been reported as a result of submarining. Mostly, antropometric test devices (ATD) are used in seatbelt tests. However, ATD responses and human tolerance levels related to amount of allowable tensioning are not yet well correlated and therefore, in this study, post mortem human subjects (14) were used to study abdominal injury response and injury thresholds. Injuries were reported for peak lap loads varying between 6.0-6.8 kN with a subsequent stable lap load of 3.6 to 4.1 kN. Based on the experiments, the authors suggest that the ratio between subject weight and size affects the injury results. From this study it could not be determined whether the injuries were caused by the peak load or later in the stable load period.
3.2
Injuries caused by airbags Typical injuries caused by airbags reported in literature may be categorised as follows: 1. Head and neck injuries 2. Thoracic injuries 3. Abrasions, burns, contusions Only limited fatal injuries were reported in literature. Generally, f injuries are caused by the airbag, these injuries are just side-effects compared to the alternative situation (without airbags). This means that the cost-benefit of airbag systems is positive. VSRC Loughborough University reported three fatal head injuries associated with airbag deployment [40] with a high degree of certainty. Amongst others, complicated fracture of the skull was observed as cause for fatal injury. A strong blow of the airbag against the front of the head (being at close proximity of the airbag) caused the fatal fracture. According to VSRC, this kind of injury would not be identified in crash tests using current test dummies. For thoracic injury case review, VSRC noticed that it was difficult to separate injuries from seat belt loading, steering wheel interaction and airbag deployment. However, two
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cases with fatal thoracic injuries were reported that were caused by the fact that the chest was in very close proximity to the steering wheel at time of airbag deployment. Abrasions, burns and contusions to the hands and arms were observed by VSRC. Movement of airbag across the occupant surface material causes abrasions. Burns are caused by the hot gases coming through the ventholes (sodium azide burns extremely rapidly to provide the nitrogen gas to inflate the airbag) and by airbag material that slides. Contusions can be the result of the airbag striking the occupant. Ocular injuries from high velocity objects were studied by Virginia Tech Impact Biomechanics Laboratory [6]. Traditionally, airbag designs included a door with an opening seam to release the airbag. As described in the previous chapter as well, a recent trend involves eliminating the door and deploying the airbag through a seamless panel. This enables small foam particles to be released from the dashboard with high velocity, causing ocular injuries to the occupant without touching the airbag. A finite element eye model was used to investigate ocular injuries and it was concluded that the model was effective at simulating ocular impacts from various particles in the event of an automobile accident. Simulation results agreed well with experimental results. Currently the eye model included material properties up to rupture and large deformation could be taken into account accurately. Material properties were taken from literature and experiments on eyes in situ will be developed to further refine the model. Recent (1997-2000) accidents involving upper extremity fracture associated with airbag deployment were analysed by Kettering University [7]. Detailed injury level information was obtained for a limited set of recent cases in which the driver or frontseat passenger suffered from fracture level injuries of the upper extremity as a result of a crash including airbag deployment. Analysis showed that airbag deployment increases the risk of forearm fracture as a proportion of all upper extremity fractures and that females are at increased risk of such injury. The reason of increased risk for females was not explained in this study. Impaired hearing was reported by the German insurance Association, Institute for Vehicle Safety [46] in about 10% of 564 vehicles in which at least one airbag was deployed. From the 57 cases in which impaired hearing was reported, in 11 cases the impaired hearing was permanent. This was particularly the case when both driver and passenger airbag had been fired. 3.3 Out-of-position (OOP) In the past, airbags were only developed for use with normal seated occupants (so called in-position occupants). Occupant airbag interaction would only take place with a completely deployed airbag and generic, mean size males were used as a reference occupant. The opposite of in-position is out-of-position (OOP), in which the occupant is interacting with the deploying airbag. In case of OOP, the occupant is in close proximity to the airbag, i.e. steering wheel or dashboard. Whereas airbags are developed to reduce injuries, the interaction of the OOP occupant with the airbag during deployment may even cause extra injuries to the occupant. As of November 1, 1997, NHTSA reported 87 crashes in the US in which the deployment of an air bag resulted in fatal injuries [76]. Among these fatalities, 49 were children and 38 were adults. Fatalities were reported using rear-facing infant seats or
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using no restraint at all for child or adult occupants. Also misuse of belts was reported, in particular for smaller children. In all cases, the occupants were very close to the dashboard when the airbag deployed. Because of their proximity, the children sustained fatal head or neck injuries from the deploying passenger air bag. For some drivers, outof-position situations as a result of black-out were reported at the time of the crash. Most of the crashes occurred at relatively low speed. The influence of airbag folding pattern on out-of-position (OOP) injury potential was studied by the Institute of Automotive Technology (TU Berlin) [8]. Four different folding patterns for a driver airbag were studied by means of simulation techniques using Pam-Crash. The influences of leporello folding (conventional folding, L), raff folding (also known as petri folding, R), stochastical folding (S) and z-folding (comes from the peter patent, Z) were studied. It was concluded that the folding pattern strongly influences the OOP injury danger. Compared to the other folding patterns, the conventional folding pattern turned out to be the most critical pattern for OOP injuries, see Figure 16.
Figure 16 OOP injury danger for head centred on module position for different folding methods [8] (limit values are indicated in lowest two rows)
The study also showed the success of a combined design, test and simulation approach as a tool to investigate the influence of airbag design parameters on OOP injury and develop advanced airbags. Driver out-of-position injuries mitigation was studied by Daimler Crysler [9]. OOP countermeasures were illustrated by a combination of computer simulation using coupled structural/computational fluid dynamics scheme and laboratory tests. The following OOP countermeasures were discussed. Reversible multi-stage and variable output inflator Pyrotechnic-assist collapsible steering column Recess airbag module cover with I tear seams Flexible airbag mounting with petal cover seams Airbag with hood/band and dual tear seams These measures did not compromise the high-speed crash performance. Only part of the simulated design proposals was verified with laboratory tests. It was illustrated that for accurate computer simulation of a static OOP tests, very detailed information about the initial dummy position and accurate mathematical dummy models are needed.
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For details on inclusion of OOP situations in regulations, the reader is referred to appendix C.2.2. 3.4 Effects of restraint systems on elderly Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network CIREN is a multi-center research program involving a collaboration of clinicians and engineers in academia, industry, and government in the US. The University of Michichan Trauma Center is involved in CIREN and studied mechanisms and patterns of traumatic injuries sustained by the elderly in motor vehicle crashes [106]. It was found that elderly (>60) are more likely to obtain more serious injury and besides, the risk to life is significantly larger for a given injury severity. In particular elderly are at much increased risk to sustain rib fractures, which are highly associated with fatality (whereas for young people, fractured ribs have little impact). Improvement in chest protection systems is therefore particularly important for elderly. For older people, the range of joint motion decreases and the location of the shoulder belt height adjustment may become a problem because of stiffness of the elderly. A study of Delphi Automotive Systems [48] investigating comfort and usability of seat belts showed that drivers over 40 years have more complaints regarding to comfort and usability of seat belts than younger drivers. For drivers over 55 years old, high belt pulling force and inappropriate and loose fitting of the belt on the body was shown to be a problem. 3.5 Effects of restraint systems on small children and child restraints Although child restraints are not the main subject of this study, some attention will be paid towards interaction of airbags with child restraints. The Third report to Congress on Effectiveness of Occupant Protection Systems and their Use [114] of NHTSA (USA) included investigation towards child airbag interaction during crash. The problem was split into rear facing infants and forward facing children at the front passenger position. Although it is generally recommended to place infants in rear-facing seats in the back seat if the vehicle has a passenger side airbag, rear facing infant seats were located at the front passenger seat in the fatality cases reported (11 cases in the US as of December 1996). During the crash, the deploying passenger airbag interacts with the back of the rear-facing infant seat causing to crack or break the plastic shell. This caused fatal skull fractures and associated brain injuries to infant. Also neck injuries could be possible but these are difficult to diagnose to infants and were not reported. The crash scenario for forward facing children assumes un- or improperly- restrained children who are in close proximity to the airbag (due to pre-impact braking) at the moment of the crash. The airbag then deploys into the childs chest, neck and face, causing fractures including fractures in cervical spine, bruising and laceration of the spinal cord and brain stem injuries. As a result of airbag cover contact, also knocked-out teeth and jawbone fractures were reported. To decrease airbag aggressiveness, recently modifications were made to the FMVSS 208 (frontal impact regulation in the US, see appendix C.2.2). The modified FMVSS 208 includes the use of small dummies to represent small stature drivers and child dummies to limit the risk of injuries by airbags to children. The new additional tests include several static airbag tests (with infants and child dummies) to limit the risk of
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OOP related injuries. The new FMVSS 208 will be effective from September 2003 on (for 20% of yearly vehicle production, for all OEMs selling on the US market). 3.6 Effect of occupant characteristics on injury risk The effect of occupant characteristics on injury risk and the development of activeadaptive restraint systems was studied by TRL and VSRC [77]. The objective was to identify specific occupant characteristics for which active-adaptive restraint systems might contribute the most to injury reductions. 12605 car occupant records from the UK Co-operative Crash Injury Study (CCIS, phase 4 and 5) were analysed to establish the injury risk for front seat occupants in frontal and side impacts. The occupant characteristics focussed at were the Body Mass Index (BMI) and the age. The main conclusions of this study were - A greater proportion of older occupants sustain serious injuries - Some evidence was found that a greater proportion of heavier male drivers and male drivers with high BMI sustains serious injuries - Some evidence was found that lighter female drivers and a greater proportion of female drivers with low BMI values sustain more serious injuries. - Some evidence was found that taller males and shorter females sustain more serious injuries. The main injury regions for frontal and side impacts were head and chest regions. Related to the conclusions as mentioned before, it was also concluded that occupant groups that differ most from 50th percentile could benefit most from adaptive airbags. A comparison of injury risk and pattern of injury for male and female occupants of modern European passenger cars was made by VSRC [133]. Accident injury data from the UK Co-operative Crash Injury Study (CCIS) was analysed for differences between male and female occupants in accident circumstances and injury outcomes. Female occupants were about 40% of the whole sample, of which one third of the drivers involved and over half of the passengers involved. Soft tissue neck injury (like Whiplash) was reported more frequently amongst women across front, side and rear impacts. In frontal impact, female occupants appeared to be more vulnerable for skeletal chest injury and leg injuries. Therefore restraint system design (including the seat belt, pretensioners and airbag) focused also on womens characteristics, could have potential in reducing injury risk.
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Trends in restraint systems

This chapter describes current and future trends in the field of restraint systems. Some of the systems described are already introduced in so called concept cars.
4.1
General trends The general trend in nowadays occupants safety clearly is the development of smart restraint systems. These systems can be adaptive to take into account occupant characteristics during deployment. Some other general trends from the field are summarised below: More attention is paid to development of occupant specific systems and prevention of lower extremity injuries. Integrated systems with airbag design integrated in design of the vehicle instead of attaching some sensors to the steering column (late firing of the airbag). Improved seats with side wings for better performance in lateral impact. Allow for automatically seat movement to reduce the delta v: in frontal crashes for passenger seats, side movement of the seat (about 100 mm) in side impact. More attention is paid towards the safety of rear occupants. Whiplash protection for rear seats by means of the self inflating head restraint that presses air in a bag in the headrest, moving the headrest to reduce the gap between head and headrest. Integration of advanced airbag and belt systems. Potential effects of these new ideas are difficult to quantify as long as these are not actually included in vehicles on the road. Virtual testing could be a way to investigate the potential of the systems.
4.2
Trends in tools for restraint system development A clear trend is the introduction of more and more virtual testing in restraint system development. Using virtual simulation techniques, destructive testing can be limited and costs are saved. Also injury risks for arbitrary sized people could be taken into account easily. Tools for occupant protection analysis were described in [124]. In automotive crash safety, the use of structural vehicle models in combination with multi-body based occupant models is common practice. This study showed two approaches for simulation: 1. coupling between MADYMO software that has specific occupant protection features and the finite element crash program LS-DYNA 2. modeling the vehicle and occupant in the combined FE-Multibody code MADYMO Both approaches were shown to be successful for a sled test model with a 50th percentile dummy under NCAP conditions, however, CPU times were higher in case of the coupling.
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The European project Proposed Reduction of car crash Injuries through improved Smart restraint development technologies (PRISM) is a 3-years project that started December 2002. PRISM has the following primary research objectives [109]: - To review existing European accident data and current "state of art" smart technologies, to assess the potential effects of smart restraints on the European accident statistics. - To obtain European statistical data regarding the actual locations of occupants within vehicles, to allow determination of realistic worst case occupant "event start positions" for impact events. - To investigate the effects of pre-impact occupant kinematics, (for example under pre-impact braking) to determine worst case occupant "impact start positions" - To identify impact / occupant scenarios worthy of detailed study and to evaluate the issues and likely effects of smart restraints on those scenarios. - To identify, create and use advanced computer models that allow the effective evaluation of such scenarios. - To generate standard guidelines to define and evaluate the functional requirements of smart restraints. Equipment of all vehicles with black boxes, that give the crash pulse data and the deployment characteristics of any multistage restraint system, could improve accident analysis. With the improved accident analysis, effectiveness of the latest airbag designs could be estimated easier and in that way, accident analysis facilitates future restraint system development.
4.3
Trends in safety
4.3.1
Investigation of multiple impacts In the past, the focus in safety was on single accident modes like frontal impact, rear impact, side impact and rollover. However, often accidents on the road are a combination of these accident modes. For future safety research, the focus will also be on the multiple impact problem. Irreversible restraint systems work in the first impact. When a second impact takes place, the restraint systems did their job already and can not be effective a second time. Therefore reversible restraint systems could contribute highly to improvement of occupant safety. Consequences for occupant protection measures in multiple impact crashes were studied in [122]. Two databases were used: the CCIS (UK, cases from 1992-2000) and the MHH/GIDAS (Germany, cases from 1996-2000). The following impact types were distinguished: single front, single side, single rear, single rollover and multiple impact (i.e. accident sequences in which vehicles undergo more than one impact). Multiple impacts were, after frontal impacts (43.6-45%), the second common impact configuration (26.5-29 %). Multiple impacts represented an increasing proportion of accidents for higher injury severity cases. It was concluded that the head is the body region that is most frequently injured in multiple impacts, but also injuries to the neck, chest and upper extremities were reported. Some consequences for occupant restraint systems were considered. Phased deployment of different protection systems in the different impacts Increased duration of inflation
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Multiple inflation of airbags (re-inflating) Position of occupants as a result of first impact (may be different from normal seating position) Time period covered by sensors, control modules and deployment algorithms The importance of multiple impacts in terms of frequency and injury risk was shown. 4.3.2 Safety of rear occupants Safety of rear occupants becomes more important since more occupants are using rear seats of vehicles [132]. In this reference, the distribution of serious injuries was assessed for belted and unbelted rear occupants for various impact directions. Lapshoulder belted rear occupants experienced injuries of the thorax related to the shoulder belt. The lap belted rear occupants, the lap belt was the most common source of abdominal injury, as well as the spine (secondary). For unbelted rear occupants, the extremities and the head were injured by the B-pillar, seatback and other interior parts. This field data analysis of rear occupant injuries resulted in the following priorities for rear occupant protection, see Table 3. Table 3: Priorities for rear occupant protection according to [132]. For belted occupants
Provide load-limiting belts Cinch occupants to the seats Improve restraint geometry Reduce contact with and pad the seatback Inflatable belts
For belted & unbelted occupants

Energy absorbing (EA) material for seatback Reduce contact with side interior and B-pillar EA material for side and interior structures Inflatable side curtains, laminated side glass Improved containment in the rear seat area
Effects of optimised restraint systems for rear seat passengers were studied by means of virtual testing [119]. A MADYMO model was validated with sled tests. With the validated model, parameter studies were performed to determine the parameters influencing dummy loading, like anchor fitting buckle, upper fastening point shoulder belt, belt slack, foot position, seat ramp, load limiter, crash pulse, pretensioner. Chest deflection was reduced with 10 mm using force limiters, 6 mm using a softer vehicle pulse and approximately 5 mm using a pretensioner. For the chest injury criterion V*C, the use of pretensioners resulted in largest reduction. The optimal force level for the load limiters was shown to be dependent on space for the rear seat passenger to move without touching the interior of the vehicle. For further studies, the inclusion of 5th % and 95th % dummies was suggested.
4.4
Trends in belt design Some trends in belt design are described below.
4.4.1
Four point belt The traditional three-point belt system has drawbacks in the field of ease of use, belt fit and comfort for elderly or non-average sized persons. An alternative is found in a four-point belt system. The optimal location and acceptability of a suspender style fourpoint safety belt system to help improve fit, comfort and safety was identified by Ford Motor Company and Lear [19]. In total 44 volunteers were involved. Acceptability of the new system was improved by avoiding an interaction between the shoulder belts and
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the volunteers neck. The interaction between the shoulder belts and the volunteers neck was dependent on the horizontal and vertical position of the shoulder belts and the occupants gender, weight and cloths. 4.4.2 New belt concept inflatable belt A historical overview of inflatable belts and the benefits of inflatable belts in reducing serious injuries to vehicle occupants during crashes was presented by Goodrich [21]. Development of inflatable belts started in early 1970s but many concerns (including comfort and packaging) held back incorporation in passenger vehicles. Since then, much progress was made in the technical field and according to technology, introduction of inflatable belts is possible. Inflatable belts provide protection to vehicle occupants during multi crash modes (frontal, side, and rollover). Since the belt is already positioned at the occupant, it provides quick restraint in case of a crash. Belt loads are distributed over a larger contact area, which reduces the probability of localised load presence. In particular elderly benefit from inflatable belts. In case of side impact or rollover, the inflated belt on the shoulder supports the head and neck to reduce the lateral movement. Also out-of-position studies with children and the inflatable belt were performed and it was concluded that all injury limits are met easily. Using inflatable belts in combination with the airbag could enable changing of energy absorbing capabilities of the airbag (reduction of aggressiveness). New belt pretensioners Similar development were reported by different manufacturers: Reversible pre-tensioning seat belt (retractor with electronic motor), (TRW system). Reversible pre-pre-tensioning (Autoliv system), to give a more gentle load distribution on the occupants chest in the event of a car crash. The first tightening is done with an electrical motor, and this eliminates the slack in the belt system earlier than with the normal pretensioner. This process can be reversible. Only in case of a crash event the normal pretensioner is activated. The new system is expected to be effective in preventing occupants from being thrown forward during severe braking. Human tolerance levels of pretension for reversible seatbelt tensioners in the pre-crash phase were studied in [131]. Effects of the reversible seatbelt tensioners that generate lower belt forces and velocities but show performance characteristics over a longer period of time in contrast to pyrotechnic seatbelt tensioners were studied. Volunteer tests were performed, using a stationary vehicle fitted with a prototype of a reversible belt pretension system. It was concluded that the loading applied by the prototype of the belt pretensioner was tolerable / acceptable for the test persons. However, risk groups like pregnant women or elderly) would need separate assessment of their potential injury risk. It was emphasised that the research is on-going, amongst others with driving tests and repeated examination through volunteers.
4.4.3
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4.5
Trends in airbags Some trends in airbag design are described below.
4.5.1
Airbag design Trends in airbag design are strongly related to so-called smart airbags using anticipatory sensors (see also chapter 5 and 6). Trends include: Adaptive airbags which are variable in airbag size and airbag firing time. New airbag venting systems, including multilevel venting systems to better control the airbag pressure [103]. Folding patterns to focus on radial expansion. Multiple compartment airbags [103]. New airbag materials with controlled fabric porosity so that discrete ventholes could be eliminated [103]. Introduction of new airbags like centre curtains, front airbags for rear seated passengers, etc. Firing of curtain airbags in frontal crashes as well. Cover properties, like cover stiffness, opening geometry, rotation points that are located deep in the steering wheel [115]. Modules located in top mounted position for passenger side [115] Active module that moves backwards in the dashboard upon firing [115]
4.5.2
Inflator technology For inflator technology the following trends were found in literature: Variable inflators the control module simply requests a certain power level (out of a continuous range) instead of making a choice between 2 or 3 prescribed levels [104]. Further introduction of non-azide propellants to replace the sodium azide propellants. The new propellants have lower temperature gas with no particles and therefore permit for example the use of lighter weight airbag fabrics [103]. Hybrid inflators which use high pressure stored gas in conjunction with pyrotechnic charge. These have lower variability in performance [103]. Heated gas inflators with a mixture of dry air and hyrogen gas under high pressure. These inflators are cleaner and environmentally friendly and also permit the use of lighter airbag fabric [103]. Sensors Sensors are needed to enable development of adaptive restraints systems that can really act dependent on the specific situation. Current sensors in airbag systems are only crash severity sensors [103]. These sensors detect changes in velocity and acceleration of the vehicle and decide to deploy restraints (airbag, belt pretensioner) or not. Current limitations of airbag performance are a result of insufficient information about the crash event and the occupant characteristics. New
4.6
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sensors and integration of information from different sensors can be applied to improve restrain systems performance, see Figure 17 for an overview. In relation to belts; sensors can be used to obtain the following information - Belt use sensors to determine if the belt is used - Belt spool-out sensors to assist occupant size detection For airbag systems: - Crash severity sensors to determine the type and severity of a crash - Occupant classification like presence, weight, size, age and gender - Sensors to measure proximity of the occupant to the airbag module Seat (position) sensors could be used to assist estimation of driver characteristics and proximity. Decision algorithms should be suited to deal with all this new information.
Figure 17 Advanced safety restraint system schematic diagram [103]
One promising trend to enhance the capabilities of restraint systems is to implement intelligence by using anticipatory sensors to be able to start acting earlier in the crash event. These new safety systems are part of Intelligent Vehicle Systems (IVS) and will be addressed in the next chapter in more details. How advanced airbag regulations will effect non-FMVSS test procedures for vehicle seats is described by MGA Research Corporation [74]. In response to the new FMVSS 208 (see appendix C.2.2), vehicles in future will have electronic sensors located in the seat and could also be equipped with other advanced sensor systems. The sensors will be developed for measuring occupant weight and size and the output is to be used to control the airbag deployment. The reliability of the sensors during the entire life of a vehicle is essential for the vehicles safety performance. Since sensors are also added to the seats, seat suppliers will have to deal with the increasing design complexity and
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extended validation testing. New test procedures for seat durability testing were proposed, taking into account avoiding damage to seat-mounted airbags and its wiring.
4.7
Potential effectiveness of adaptive restraint systems Potential effectiveness of adaptive restraint systems was predicted by Automotive Safety Centre (University of Birmingham, UK) and Vehicle Safety Research Centre (Loughborough University, UK), [121]. Injury Severity Reduction Matrices were produced for each driver group (shorter drivers, heavier drivers, older drivers and all other drivers) and all crashes (all low energy, moderate energy & low intrusion, moderate energy & high intrusion, high energy & low intrusion, high energy & high intrusion). Potential injury reduction for a certain group of drivers, given the crash severity and type of injury, was estimated by logical progression. Both pessimistic and optimistic potential reductions in the severity of injury to any body region were assigned, providing a (by nature subjective) range. These matrices were then applied to CCIS accident data from 1992-2000. The potential effectiveness is given in Figure 18.
Figure 18 Potential effectiveness adaptive restraint systems [121]
The overall effectiveness of adaptive restraint systems for MAIS 3 injuries was estimated between 14% and 25% and for MAIS 2 injuries between 33% and 41%. The method used, including the Injury Severity Reduction Matrices, is subjective, but it was intended to calculate a range of results, based on a range of possibilities, for a future theoretical adaptive restraint system.
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Intelligent Vehicle Systems (IVS)

In passenger cars, technology is taking over tasks of drivers in order to increase the level of safety and comfort. Intelligent Vehicle Systems are the key to achieve this task. Each system including sensing of the outside and/or inside vehicle environment and lead to an action for driver safety or driver comfort after that the sensor data have been processed is called Intelligent Vehicle System or IVS. Intelligent Vehicle Systems (IVS) are part of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). ITS are the systems used to achieve mobile and safer traffic conditions by providing a link between the drivers, vehicles and the infrastructure. Electronic communication and computer-controlled technology [41] provide this link. Figure 19 provides an overview of the possible actions performed in the field of IVS.
Figure 19 Different type of actions performed by IVS [145]
Figure 19 provides an overview on the measures that can be performed for comfort or for safety purpose in the frame of IVS. In this report the focus will be on safety. The active safety measures reduce the probability of an accident to occur. Passive safety measures allow the mitigation of crash effects during the accident and tertiary safety involves rescue measures. 5.1 IVS in vehicle safety applications The applications covered nowadays by the intelligent vehicle systems involve both comfort and safety applications. The requirements for safety are more complex and difficult to fulfil than the requirements for comfort. One rising question is: What is the added value of IVS systems for safety? A key answer to this question is that Intelligent Vehicle Systems for Safety (IVSS) tackle the first well-known cause of road accidents, namely, driver errors. Already in 1979, a study performed by Indian University showed that driver errors contribute to 93 % of the accidents [129].
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In a study on driver behaviour NHTSA found that 99% of the accidents investigated were caused by driver errors [93]. The errors can be of different types like delay to recognise potential risks, misinterpretation of the traffic situation, errors during a manoeuvre etc In any case the misperception is a major factor. Moreover, IVSS allows an integrated approach for safety creating a link between active and passive safety. The potential of IVSS to integrate both passive and active safety will be described in this report. Some active safety systems like ABS and ESP (described below) include intelligence and can also be considered as IVSS. These conventional IVSS take into account parameters concerning the driver and/or the vehicle behaviour. 5.1.1 ABS Anti locking Brake System or Antilock Brake System The original acronym ABS is derived from the German term "antiblockiersystem." The system was first patented in the 1936. The first series production started by Bosch in 1978. ABS prevents the locking of the brakes. Sensors provide information of locking to the controller, which releases the brakes momentarily. The modulation of the brake pressure level improves the efficiency for deceleration. ABS was designed to decrease the probability of crashes by increasing deceleration and controllability and is then considered as an active safety system. In some references, ABS is described as a crashavoidance technology [51] [83]. Kahane found that, with the introduction of ABS, involvement in multi-vehicle crashes involving fatalities on wet roads were significantly reduced by 24 %, and non fatal crashes by 14 % [79] [80]. A February 1996 study found ABS to be associated with approximately a 10 percent overall reduction in crashes [50]. Some statistics shown however an increase of rollover crashes after the introduction of ABS. This last side effect could not be demonstrated by controlled experimental research [50] [51] [52]. ASR Acceleration Slip Regulation Also called Electronic Traction Control (ETC). The ASR can be seen like an ABS working in the accelerating phase or an inverted ABS. Many of the principles of the ABS are used for this technique. The ASR allows an efficient acceleration allowing the driver to remain in control of the vehicle in wet conditions. ESP Electronic Stability Program ESP is based on other electronic braking systems like ABS and ASR. The different sensors records are monitored and compared to a reference model. The aim of using ESP is to reduce the risk of skid, drift or slide. It is too early to provide realistic numbers on the effect of ESP on traffic accidents. According to the manufacturers one of the strengths of the Electronic Stability Program is the speed with which it works providing high potential for safety [81] [82]. An analysis of the European Accident Causation Survey (EACS) [128] shown that ESP would have reduced the likelihood or avoided the accident in 18% of all injury accidents and in 34% of fatal accidents. The study was performed on information obtained from 1674 accident in Europe. The analysis is based on experts opinion and is illustrated in Figure 20.
5.1.2
5.1.3
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Figure 20 Potential of ESP for collision avoidance from Reference [128]
5.1.4
Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) The new features concerning IVS is that the far environment around the vehicle is also taken into account. This is made possible by the use of remote sensing technology (the sensors used in automotive applications are described in chapter 6). A promising IVS system introduced in the market and described sometimes as active safety system is the Advanced (or Adaptive) cruise control ACC. ACC is presented by car manufacturers to their clients as an IVS for comfort but it can be considered as being at the edge with IVSS. Mercedes launched the first European ACC system in the new S-Class model at the end of 1998. Instead of static speed control with an ordinary cruise control, ACC adjusts the speed by detecting the distance and the relative speed of a vehicle ahead using an onboard radar system (radar sensors are described in chapter 6). The results of two driving simulator experiments using ACC [78] showed limitations to the introduction of ACC' s to road types other than the motorway. Safety improvement in the case of rear impact was studied in the European project DIATS [84]. In Figure 21, the comparison of simulation results obtained by three partners is shown. For this case, the test scenario included one ACC equipped vehicle following a vehicle decelerating harshly with in a stream of vehicles.
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[Km/h]
[m]
Figure 21 Safety benefits of ACC during emergency braking by simulation [84]
It appears that no accidents due to ACC malfunction or driver misunderstanding have been reported until now. It is again too early to take conclusions on the effects of ACC on safety because of the short time in which the systems are used and the limited number of vehicles using it. Some conclusions on ACC potential and effects on regulations obtained from a study performed in the frame of the EC funded project DIATS [84] are reported hereafter: ACC is unlikely to have significant impacts on the traffic efficiency of motorways in the near future. Penetration rates below 20% have been shown to have little impact. In addition, it seems likely that drivers will choose not to use ACC systems near intersections when lane changing is frequent as first generation ACC systems will not satisfactorily respond to cut-in manoeuvres. ACC greatly enhances the longitudinal control of the driver, reducing acceleration variation by about 45% compared to normal following, which will establish environmental benefits. There may be added value to smoothing flow with Variable Speed Limits when significant ACC penetration exists. VSL reduces lane changing and creates smoother driving conditions better suited to ACC. A long term monitoring study should be undertaken to examine potential changes in driver motivation and driver skill on the network brought about by ACC. Safety benefits are estimated due to the improvement in reaction times that ACC will offer. However, some concerns exist regarding drivers ability to resume control in an emergency situation and the potential for drivers to recognise these situations later. The effects of further penetration of ACC will depend upon the time headway selected by drivers. Currently, headways of 1.2 seconds and below are estimated to be required to avoid reducing capacity. It may not be desirable to encourage long platoons of vehicles with an inhomogeneous mix of vehicles, with different levels of maintenance and different control algorithms to operate in the fast lane. It may be necessary for national administrations to modify the driving code of practice to take account of the improved vehicle and control technology. 5.2 IVS potential to integrate Passive safety and active safety Figure 22 is obtained from the EC funded project ADASE [54] (more European projects related to this issue are listed in Appendix B). The figure provides a holistic approach to
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safety in which the overlap of passive and active safety is shown. Note that the precrash phase in this case includes both collision avoidance and occupant protection.
Figure 22 Holistic view on safety [54]
The Pre-Crash phase is related to a new field in automotive applications: Pre-crash sensing. Pre-crash sensing systems (branch of IVSS) are described in more detail in the next section. 5.3 Pre-Crash Sensing (PCS) systems Pre-Crash Sensing (PCS) systems are based on the three functions of IVS: Sensing: To detect the relevant obstacle into the traffic and the infrastructure, Monitoring: To inform the vehicle of the obstacle characteristics and Acting: To take decision for automatic deployment of passive safety devices and/or active safety devices to mitigate and/or to avoid the crash. Current passive safety devices can be subdivided in systems that are deployed in the initial stage of the crash like restraint systems (details are given in the first part of this report) and systems that do not need activation (e.g. padding). Besides that, most of passive safety devices could be deployed before the crash occurrence in combination with active safety actions by the use of the so-called pre-crash sensing systems. Pre-crash sensing is related to all the crash modes frontal impact, side impact, rear impact and rollover Daimler Chrysler developed a so-called pre-crash sensing system and implemented it in the Mercedes S class. The PCS includes a belt retractor developed by TRW, which is activated by the information provided by the ABS (Anti locking brake System) and ESP (Electronic Stability Program) sensors and emergency braking. These two active safety systems are activated in the collision avoidable state. The system is aimed to enhance
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the functioning of passive safety systems like airbag in case of accident by avoiding OOP occurrence (see chapter 3). Toyota developed a similar pre-crash sensing system activating pre-crash seatbelts and braking. The system in this case uses millimetre-wave radar to sense the vehicle environment and determine the possibility of collision with potential obstacles [150]. A European project Chameleon [29] performed in the frame of the 5th framework programme was dedicated entirely to PCS systems. It is interesting to highlight some output of this project. 5.3.1 Example project: Chameleon t[29] Figure 23 shows the intervention safety areas covered by chameleon compared to other EC projects (see Appendix B for more information on other related EC projects). It is interesting to note that this pre-crash sensing project does not include the avoidable phase (for the ADASE project mentioned above pre-crash sensing includes the avoidable phase).
Figure 23 Pre-crash sensing in the chameleon project [29]
The relevancy of obstacles for pre-crash sensing applications was studied within the project. According to accident statistics and their own (passive) protection requirements, the 5 car manufacturers involved in this project have given their detection priorities (Table 4).
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Criteria Infrastructure Fixed obstacles into the environme nt
Type
PSA Renault Porsche Volvo CRF Rank 1 2 1 1 1 2 (6) Pole/Tree 2 4 2 2 1 3 (11) Wall 2 4 2 2 1 3 (11) Security 4 5 3 3 4
7 (19)
Rail Ditch
Traffic
Potentially Car moving Truck, obstacles bus

Pedestrian Bicycle Motorcycl e Animal
1 1 2 2 2 3
1 1 2 2 2 3
1 2 3 3 3 4
1 1 4 3 2 3
1 1 4 3 2 3
1 (5) 2 (6) 5 (15) 4 (13) 3 (11) 6 (16)
(1 most important, 5 less important)
Table 4: Obstacle detection priorities in the chameleon project [30] The types of obstacles were then classified into three categories: - obstacles which must be absolutely detected - obstacles interesting to be detected - obstacles out of CHAMELEON interest
car, truck, pole and tree, wall, security rail, motorcycle, bicycle, animal, pedestrian, ditch.
Note that Pre-crash sensing systems for pedestrian protection were taken out of this project. The reasons for this decision were not described in the documents used for this survey. 5.3.2 Pre-crash sensing potential and limitations to increase safety Pre-crash sensing systems are introduced in the market since short. The social cost benefits depend on many factors like the type of safety measure to be deployed, the level of false alarms and the new type of risks generated. The main recognised benefit of pre-crash sensing systems is definitely time. In many accidents a relatively long time (in the range of seconds) passes from the accident-causing event to the actual impact [55]. In the conventional passive safety systems this time is not used at all to mitigate the crash. Pre-crash sensing systems can be used in both self-protection and partner-protection (e.g. for cars compatibility purpose). PCS have great opportunities for protection of vulnerable road users. PCS facilitate both post-impact and pre-impact countermeasures [83]. In the Chameleon project described above, the potential of passive safety systems deployed by pre-crash sensors has been investigated on the basis of simulation studies and experts opinion. A resuming evaluation is shown in Figure 24.
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Figure 24 Potential of Pre-Crash Sensing systems References [29]
The main apprehension of these systems is false alarm and missing alarm risks: associated active safety measures such, as breaking unnecessarily could be dangerous for the driver. Unnecessary deployment of passive safety measures, as airbags etc. could also be dangerous for the occupants. It is foreseen therefore that reversible safety systems will be used at a first stage with limited or no consequences on driver safety. The responsibility (driver/manufacturer) in case of system failure is also an important concern. These issues are addressed in the European projects RESPONSE and RESPONSE2 (see appendix). As for all IVSS, an important potential of Pre-crash sensing is that the systems allows an integrated approach for safety linking passive safety measures and active safety measures. This issue (passive-active safety interaction) is under study by the European Enhanced Vehicle Committee: EEVC WG19 (See appendix C). 5.4 Trends in IVS for safety The implementation of advanced cruise control is a bigger step than it might seem for IVSS developments. ACC systems are described as comfort IVS but proper knowledge of the vehicle surroundings can result in the following (future) applications: Stop&go cruise control in a city environment Country road ACC (automatic speed adaptation for curves) Collision warning (forward and sideways) Collision avoidance Lane departure warning Automatic lane-keeping / lane-change These IVS are part of the so-called Advanced Driver Assistance ADAS (note that ACC is also an ADAS). Many European research projects besides the ones described above provided studies on the potential of Advanced Driver Assistance (ADAS) systems to improve safety, efficiency and minimise the environmental impacts of road traffic was addressed (see Appendix B for a list of some of these EC-projects). A first step to be taken is to use the obstacle detection systems for driver warning. Warning systems are already used for parking aid. Audible or visible signals are used to warn the driver on the proximity of danger. Even if false and missing alarms have less influence on safety, it is vital that warnings not distract or confuse the driver during an impending collision. On the other hand one driver may not want to be warned until the
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threat is severe while another driver may want to be notified at the slightest hint of trouble [83]. The best protection is of course to avoid the accident. According to Stephen N. Rohr et Al from Delphi [56], the collision avoidance systems (CAS) will evolve into three modes: Driver initiated Vehicle initiated A blend of both The actions concerned by collision avoidance are: steering and automatic stopping. A fully automated CAS is not foreseen to be introduced in the market in the next future. The reliability and the potential of the state of the art obstacle detection systems (sensors) is too small to be used in an unstructured environment like roads. A road map for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems in Europe is presented in Figure 25 obtained from the ADASE2 EC project [85]. The figure provides an overview of the complexity of technological issues and also expected safety enhancements.
Figure 25 Road map for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems in Europe [89]
In Figure 26 [110] [111], an attempt to provide the trends of safety systems is shown. In this figure ADAS have a great potential of penetration in the automotive market. Note that most of IVS systems for safety like ACC are depicted as active safety systems.
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Figure 26 Safety systems an their trends from reference [110]
A rather equivalent figure is provided by Themic [112] in which the ADAS are shown separately, see Figure 27.
Figure 27 Trends in safety systems from reference [112]
5.5
Discussion IVSS have a great potential to enhance vehicle safety. In order to get precise overview on IVSS potential, the capability of the used sensor should be addressed first. The engineers involved in the design of the upcoming systems should have a multidisciplinary background to understand the requirements. New tools and/or links should be created between the design tools developed for passive safety (FE codes and
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Multibody dynamics for passive safety) and the ones developed for active safety. There is a clear need to define the interconnections between passive and active safety via IVS and their influence on actual vehicle safety standards. The EEVC WG19 (see Appendix C) addresses this issue. New testing procedures should be developed for the design and validation of IVS. In the chameleon project (see appendix B) a simulation tool called EICAS was used for design and analysis of PCS purpose. In the Netherlands a large testing facility called VEHIL is under development to test IVS [151]. This facility is aimed to be an intermediate step between simulation and full-scale road test. The sensors are the key element for developing IVS for automotive applications, which can be used for safety purpose. One obstacle to the introduction of IVS used for safety purpose is the difficulty of assessment of the false and missing alarm rate. New design and validation tools should be developed for this purpose (which could also be used to demonstrate the potential of these systems). Nowadays radar appears to be the most promising sensing technology. Artificial vision provided also promising results. More details on radar and other types of remote sensors used in automotive applications are provided in the next chapter. The combination of different sensors would probably be the ideal solution (see next chapter). However, the use of any remote sensor for safety applications is tricky for several reasons like driver acceptability, responsibilities in case of system failure and the limitations of the actual sensors to cover a large angle. Regulations are also an issue for remote sensing use in automotive application. The actual radar used for ACC use a 77 GHz frequency, 24 GHz radar can cover a larger angle with a higher accuracy and resolution and lower production costs than 77Ghz radar. However, this frequency it is not yet? allowed in automotive applications (see information on the SARA group in appendix C). The information obtained from the sensors should be more reliable and complete than its actual state. More details on sensor technology can be found in the next chapter.
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Remote sensor technology

Roughly 37% of serious road accidents (with injuries) occur in conditions of limited visibility, like darkness and fog [59]. Different types of sensors are (or can be) used to obtain information about the surrounding environment of the driver and/or the vehicle. The anticipatory sensors used in automotive industry are: Ultrasonic sensors Infrared sensors Radar Lidar Artificial vision Each type of sensor operate in a frequency range of the electromagnetic spectrum (apart from the ultrasonic sensors) shown in Figure 28. Each sensor provides partial information of the surrounding world. The combination of these sensors could give better results than using them separately. In this chapter the sensors mentioned above are described and also the so-called sensor fusion.
6.1
Ultrasonic sensors Ultrasonic devices work with sound waves with a frequency higher than human ear perception (20 kHz). The main advantage of the device is their low costs. The limitation is the low scan rate (10 Hz) which is proportional to the sound speed. For this reason the ultrasonic sensors are restricted to low speed manoeuvres (e.g. parking aid).
6.2
Infrared sensors There are two types of infrared sensors: 1 Near infrared sensors (laser radar, infrared sensors) which do not offer a sensible benefit in fog (0.35-2.5 m). 2 Far infrared sensors (sensitive in the range of 8-14 m), providing thermal images of the scenario independently from any light conditions. The enhanced visibility in fog and heavy rain condition is dependent on droplet size.
Figure 28 Classification of the electromagnetic spectrum [26]
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6.3
Radar
The radar appears to be the most promising remote sensing technology for automotive applications. Radar is an acronym made up of the words radio detection and ranging. Radar is a device that detects the presence, the direction, and the position of objects by using reflected electromagnetic energy. One advantage for automotive applications is that radar is unaffected by darkness and is able to look through fog, clouds and snow to some degree. The experts in Radar field use a specific terminology, for instance, the energy reflected from an object is called echo, the distance from the radar to an object is called range. The object in this case is called target. Two types of radar are generally used in automotive applications: The pulse radar: transmits very short bursts or pulses, each pulse being followed by a relatively long resting period during which the transmitter is switched off and the receiver is operating. Since radar waves travel at the speed of light, it is possible to calculate the range from the travelling time of the returning signal. The Continuous wave (CW) radars: transmit a constant beam of radar energy. As opposed to pulsed radar systems, continuous wave (CW) radar systems emit a continuous electromagnetic radiation. If an object is moving, the radar waves returns to a separate antenna with a frequency that is slightly different than the original transmitted pulse frequency. Measuring this so-called Doppler Shift the speed of the object can be determined. One limitation of pure CW radar is that the range to the object cannot be determined. However, by manipulating the frequency of the radar over time (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave FMCW), the objects range can also be calculated from a CW radar. An advantage of FMCW radar systems in comparison with classical pulse radar is the low measurement time. Radar systems rely upon a portion of the transmitted radar energy being reflected off of targets or obstacles to be detected. The reflective strength of a radar target is a measure, which has units of m. This ability to reflect energy is called Radar Cross Section or RCS. The RCS depends on shape, size, material properties and aspect angle. Typical values for the radar cross section for different objects in square meters is shown in the Table 5: pedestrian 1 cyclist 2 car 100 Pickup,truck 200 Table 5: Typical RCS values It can be seen that a radar system can detect a truck at a greater distance than it can detect a pedestrian. ACC systems available on the European market are based on pulsed radar devices or frequency modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) operating within the frequency range 76 77 GHz. The maximum range for this type of radar is about 150 meters. An other type of radar is the 24 GHz radar, which is not used in Europe because it is not allowed
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by legislation (see info on the SARA group in appendix C). The motivation provided by car manufacturers and sensor providers for using this technology is that it will enable mass-production (cost effective) and also that the 24 GHz radar allows both large angle and near field detection (needed for pre-crash sensing applications). Bosch point of view concerning the use of radar for automotive applications in function of the used frequency is shown in Figure 29. In Table 6 some characteristics of the two radar are shown [35], [38].
Figure 29 Possibilities of using radar in automotive applications in function of the used frequency from [39].
Parameter
Angular coverage in Azimuth Minimum range 1m Maximum range 150 m Range resolution 1m Relative speed interval -80km/h...+240km/h Relative speed resolution 2.5 km/h
77 GHz radar Value 10
24 GHz radar Value 50 0.3 m 20m 0.03 m 0 to 216 km/h 0.1 m/s (closing velocity)
Time for complete scan 30 ms Table 6: Comparison of 77GHz radar and 24 GHz radar
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Figure 30 Example of an ACC scan characteristics from [38]
More details on Radar applied to automotive applications can be found in references [30][33] [31] [33] [32] [37]. 6.4 Lidar The radar principle is also used in optics. LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) or LADAR (LAser Detection And Ranging) can be used for automotive applications like ACC and pre-crash sensing. IBEO Automobile Sensor GmbH of Germany is actually the only supplier of such devices for the automotive market. For pre-crash application a high dynamic Laserscanner for near field scanning was developed in the frame of the European project Chameleon [29]. The Pre-Crash Laserscanner measures distance, velocity, direction and outline of the obstacle with 40 Hz scan frequency and an angular resolution of 1.0. The update rate is of 25 ms with a viewing angle of up to 270. A truck driving 3 m ahead of the test-vehicle is detected by more than 40 measurement points, that means a measurement point every 5 cm on the outline of the trucks back. The Laserscanner is eye-safe (laser class 1) and has a single shot measurement accuracy of 5 cm (1 Sigma) with a max. range of 20 m. The Laserscanner creates a 2-dimensional range profile of the environment. The built-in DSP allows a high-speed object detection and the use of a high performance object tracking algorithm for real-time tracking. The main limitation for the use of Lidar in automotive applications is that weather conditions affect its potential. 6.5 Artificial vision : (video pattern recognition) Reliable obstacle detection is one of the most important issues for pre-crash sensing and collision avoidance systems. Artificial vision does not provide the range or the speed of the potential obstacles but can be used for the recognition of the surrounding environment. Other advantage of using a camera is that it can provide information on the infrastructure and be used for lane keeping (follow the road and keep within the correct lane). Two techniques can be used: The monocular vision and the stereo vision. The advantage of analysing stereo images instead of a monocular sequence lies in the possibility of directly detecting the presence of obstacles, which is, otherwise,
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indirectly derived. The techniques will not be described in this report. More details can be found in a survey on artificial vision performed on this item by M. Bertozzi et Al [87]. The system developed by mobileye [116] for driving assistance systems on basis of monocular vision can detect and track other vehicles on the road and includes egomotion estimation and road geometry analysis. The literature shows many projects in which artificial vision is used for automatic vehicle guidance and/or obstacle detection [88] [89] [90] [91]. In a project called Urban Traffic Assistant (UTA and UTA2) a stereo vision camera is developed by Daimler Chrysler which is able to recognise pedestrians, traffic signs, lanes and can be used for stop and go applications [92]. The technology is not ready yet to be used in commercial vehicles. The artificial vision combined with other remote sensing techniques like radar would provide promising results (see Data sensor fusion) 6.6 Data sensor fusion The ideal solution to contain the production costs would be to use the same sensor for different applications (e.g. ACC and pre-crash sensing). However, each of the sensor technologies listed above has its advantages and inconvenient. In order to take over some tasks of the driver the technology should imitate the human way of sensing. The driver uses simultaneously different sensors (in particular his eyes and his ears) to understand its environment. In sensor technology the simultaneous use of different sensors is known as sensor data fusion. The data obtained by a single sensor give only incomplete information. A combination of sensors data allows a better understanding of the surrounding world. Use of sensor data fusion generates however new problems. For instance, the data can be redundant or obtained at different time step. The sensor data fusion is foreseen to be used in future cars equipped by both radar and artificial vision systems for target detection, classification, identification, and tracking. The literature shows that different techniques can be used like Bayesian methods, the Artificial Neural Networks, or the fuzzy logic method [27] [87] [105] [113]. The obtained data obtained from each sensor are processed together to increase the level of understanding of the surrounding world. .
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Conclusions
This chapter shortly presents the most important findings from this literature survey.
7.1
Restraint systems This literature study showed the benefits of current restraint systems. Wearing seat belts still offers the biggest reduction of injury potential during a crash, regardless of impact situation. For example, for frontal impact injury risk reduction up to 60%. The use of seat belts in combination with airbags reduces the injury risk for frontal impact little more (plus 10-20%, compared to belt-only). However, the belt is often not worn in case of a crash. Not much literature was available about field performance of side and curtain airbags. These systems were introduced only recently and very limited accident cases were available in literature. Still, some preliminary field studies and numerical simulations seem to show benefits of new systems. Some recent seat concepts claim reduction of Whiplash injury risk in case of (low severity) rear impacts and also reduction of fatality risk for high severity impacts. Side effects of restraint systems were investigated in literature. Only limited serious injuries due to restraint systems were reported. To prevent occupants from being injured by the airbag instead of being protected, more stringent airbag regulations will be included in the USA. The so-called out-of-position situation will be included in the new FMVSS 208. Since also in Europe close proximity to the airbags as a result of pre-crash braking may occur, even when wearing seatbelts, these trends are important for Europe as well. Current trends indicate the increasing importance of the use of adaptive systems. It was shown that for the population that differs most from the standard 50th % the improvement potential might be the biggest. Future trends also include more focus on the second and later impacts in multiple impact events, as current systems protect reasonably well during the first impact. More attention is paid towards safety of rear passengers.
7.2
Intelligent Vehicle Systems There have been large reductions in fatalities in the last decade. However, still the number of fatalities unacceptable. IVSS offers new solutions to tackle road safety problems. The devices for obstacle detection used for ADAS and pre-crash sensing systems in particular are foreseen to play an important role in the next generation of vehicles. The conventional IVSS provide have a high potential on vehicle safety. Estimations from in depth accidents analysis showed that ESP could have reduced the likelihood or avoided the accident in 18% of all injury accidents and in 34% of fatal accidents. The remote sensing technology will play an important role in the development of IVS in general. Sensed information of the upcoming crash can effectively be used to perform actions for the mitigation of the crash. A lot of research work was done on IVSS in the frame of European projects. IVS in general and IVSS particularly introduce a new perspective on safety. IVSS tackle the first cause of accidents which is driver errors. IVSS will enhance safety also by permitting an integrated approach to safety issues. A multi-disciplinary approach is needed to develop IVSS. New simulation tools and testing procedures are needed for
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the design and validation of the systems but also to show the potential of this relatively new automotive application. Finally regulations will probably be modified because of the introduction of these tools.
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UK. Multiple impact crashes, consequences for occupant protection measures. IRCOBI conference 2001. [123] Anders Kullgren, Maria Krafft, Sigrun Malm, Anders Ydenius, Folksam Research. Claes Tingvall, Monash University Accident Research Centre. Influences of airbags and seat belt pretensioners on AIS1 neck injuries for belted occupants in frontal impacts. 44th STAPP Car Crash Conference, 200001-SC09 [124] Paul M. A. Slaats and Wookeun Lee, TNO MADYMO North America. Venkatesh babu and Kevin R. Thomson, DaimlerChrysler Corp. Tools for occupant protection analysis. SAE paper 2001-01-2725. [125] Hell, W.; Langwieder, K. GDV Institute for Vehicle Safety Munich. Walz, F. ETH Zrich. Reported soft tissue neck injuries after rear-end car collisions. IRCOBI conference 1998 [126] P. Prasad, A. Kim, D.P.V. Weerappuli, Ford Motor Company. V. Roberts, Institute for Product Safety. D. Schneider, Biokinetic Engineering, Inc. Relationships between passenger car seat back strength and occupant injury severity in rear end collisions: field and laboratory studies. STAPP 1997, SAE paper 973343 [127] http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/CrashWorthy/ HeadRest/status9/status9.html [128] R. Sferco, Y.Page, J.Y. Le Coz, P. A. Fay Potential effectiveness of electronic stability programs (esp) what european field studies tell us ESV conference 2001-S2-O-327 [129] Treat, J. R., Tumbas, N. S., McDonald, S .T., Shinar, D., Hume, R. D., Mayer, R. E., Stanisfer, R. L., and Castillan, N. J. (1977) Tri-level study of the causes of traffic accidents. Report No. DOT-HS-034-3-535-77, Indiana University [130] Viano, D.C., ProBiomechanics LLC, Crash Safety Division, Chalmers University of Technology, Safety Integration Center, General Motors Corporation. Energy transfer to an occupant in rear crashes: effect of stiff and yielding seats. SAE paper 2003-01-0180. [131] Lorenz, B., Kallieris, D., Strohbeck-Kuehner, P., Mattern, R. Institute of Legal and Traffic Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Germany. Class, U., Lueders, M., TRW occupant Safety Systems, Alfdorf, Germany. Volunteer tests on human tolerance levels of pretension for reversible seatbelt tensioners in the pre-crash phase. Phase I results: tests using a stationary vehicle. IRCOBI conference 2001 [132] Parenteau, C., Delphi Corporation. Viano, D.C., ProBiomechnics LLC, Crash Safety Division, Chalmers University of Technology. Field data analysis of rear occupant injuries. Part I: Adults and teenagers. SAE paper 2003-01-0153 [133] Lenard, J., Welsh, R., Vehicle Safety Research Centre, Loughborough University, UK. A comparison of injury risk and pattern of injury for male and female occupants of modern European passenger cars. IRCOBI conference 2001 [134] http://www.passivesafety.com/whiplash2/ [135] Krafft, M., Kullgren, A.,Folksam Research, Stockholm, Sweden. Lie, A., Tingvall, C., Swedisch National Road Administration. The risk of whiplash injury in the rear seat compared to the front seat in rear impacts. IRCOBI conference 2002. [136] Dahlstedt, S., VTI (Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute). Non-users reasons for not wearing the seat-belt. VTI report 417. [137] www.swov.nl/nl/kennisbank/15_beveiliging/autogordels.htm
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Appendix A.1/1
Glossary
ABS
(Anti-lock Braking System) ABS keeps the wheels from fully locking up while braking to allow the driver to maintain steering control. The maximum force on the brake pedal slows each wheel to the point of maximum braking without skidding. (Adaptive Cruise Control ): Maintain both the required cruising speed and the headway between the vehicles acting on the accelerator and the braking system. Single forward looking radar. (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) Examples of ADA systems : ACC, lane departure warning and collision warning.
(Automatically Guidance of Vehicles) (Autonomous Intelligent Cruise Control) The concept of AICC is similar to a conventional cruise control system, which is now an accepted feature of most vehicles. The AICC system controls the speed of a vehicle with reference to the speed of other vehicles on the road. This system has the potential to reduce rear-end accidents in both city and highway conditions - particularly those caused by driver inattentiveness (Anthropometric Test Device), also called test dummies. These devices represent occupants in crash testing (Acceleration Slip Regulation) (Advanced Transport Telematics) (Automated Vehicle Control Systems ) Refer to the group of ITS (or IVHS) concepts that actually control a vehicle. It is this group of systems that are likely to have the most tangible effect upon vehicle safety and the avoidance of accidents. A group of systems under the AVCS umbrella is known as Autonomous Intelligent Cruise Control or AICC
ACC
ADAS
AGV AICC
ATD
ASR ATT AVCS
AVG
(Automatic or Convoying Vehicle Guidance ) AVG requires advanced environment sensing (e.g. radar) with vehicle-to-vehicle communication. (Collision Avoidance Systems)
(Differential Absorption LIDAR) (Design and Validation Environment)
CAS
DIAL DVE
Appendix A.2/2
ECU ESP FAST FAVs
(Electronic Central Unit) (Electronic Stability Programme) (Fully Automated Sensor Triggered actions) (Fully Automated Vehicles)
FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) or (Frequency Modulated Carrier Wave) radar HMI HMIX (Human Machine Interface ) (Harmonic Mixer)
HUD ISA
ISS
(Head Up Display) (Intelligent Speed Adaptation)

(Integrated Safety System)
ITS IVS IVSS LAB
(Intelligent Transportation Systems) (Intelligent Vehicle Systems) (Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems) (Accidentology and Biomechanics Laboratory - PSA France)
LASER (Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation) LIDAR MPA OA OD OEM (Light Detection And Ranging) (Medium Power Amplifier) (Obstacle Avoidance) (Obstacle Detection) (Original Equipment Manufacturer)
PCS TTC VCO
(Pre Crash Sensing) (Time To Collision)

(Voltage Controlled Oscillator) It is an oscillator designed so applying a voltage to its control port or tuning port can change the output frequency
Appendix B.1/1
List of relevant IVS related EC projects
ADASE:

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems in Europe ADASE is an EC IST funded thematic network that will help to introduce and implement active safety systems. The objectives are: to use the state-of-the-art knowledge to generate corresponding road maps and guidance, to facilitate the information exchange within the cluster of projects related to ADA systems and transport, to organise in-depth expert workshops on selected topics , and to disseminate the resulting findings and information to all relevant users and user groups and the general public.
ADVISORS: Action for advanced Driver assistance and Vehicle control systems Implementation, Standardisation, Optimum use of the Road network and Safety. Based on test site demonstrations, a methodology is developed to assess the impact of different types and different levels of penetration of ADAS in terms of the safety, efficiency and environmental performance of the road transport system. Furthermore, implementation scenarios is developed in order to help introducing appropriate ADAS. AWAKE: System for effective Assessment of driver vigilance and Warning According to traffic risK Estimation The objective of AWAKE is to increase traffic safety by reducing the number and the consequences of traffic accidents caused by driver hypovigilance.
CHAMELEON Pre-crash Application All Around The Vehicle The main objective of the Chameleon project is to support, direct and validate the development of pre-crush sensorial system to detect imminent impact in all type of scenarios (urban, rural and motorway)
COMUNICAR: COmmunication Multimedia UNit Inside CAR The main goal is to design, develop and test an easy-to-use on-vehicle multimedia Human-Machine Interface (HMI). Such HMI will manage the communicative exchange with the driver taking into account his/her workload, the different environment conditions and traffic scenarios. To reach such a goal, a set of Innovative Methods in the fields of Human Factors, Multimedia Design, and Technological Devices for automotive applications are explored and developed. The final expected outcome is a safer and more comfortable driving EUCLIDE Enhanced hUman machine interface for on vehiCLe Integrated Driving support systEms EUCLIDE will develop a new reliable integrated driver assistance support system, which will monitor the area ahead of the driver and will
Appendix B.2/2
provide an effective support especially in cases of night and adverse weather conditions. This system will integrate the functionalities of radar and far infrared sensors resulting to a highly reliable and efficient system. At the same time a new enhanced HMI, based on the state of the art at EU level, will be developed. The proposed system is expected to the market stepwise within the next 5 years .The main aim of the project is to address the strong societal needs of reducing the total number of accidents. So the proposed project will strongly address human factor issues. IN-ARTE Integration of Navigation and Anticollision for Rural Traffic Environment The aim of IN-ARTE is to develop an integrated autonomous on-board system to be able to build an extended view of the environment in front of the vehicle. This is done by integrating signals from anticollision radar, road recognition CCD sensors and navigation map, in order to guide and warn the driver through an optimum HMI in a series of rural areas related traffic tasks, such as intersection handling, speed selection while negotiations, curves, obstacle detection, etc
PROMETHEUS Programme for a European Traffic with Highest Efficiency and Unprecedented Safety Started in 1986, led by 18 European automobile companies, state authorities, and over 40 research institutions with a budget of about 900 million euros. The objectives fall in the following categories: Improved driver information Active driver support Cooperative driving Traffic and fleet management RESPONSE II Advanced driveR assistance systEmS: from introduction scenarios towards a code of Practice fOr developmeNt and tESting. Project financed in the 5th FP in the IST. Response 2 is the contimuation of RESPONSE: Project developed in the frame of the 4th framework programme Telematics Applications Programme from 1998 to 2001. In this project legal issues regarding ADAS market introduction were adressed. The work willl continue in the frame of a new project Response II.
Appendix C.1/1
Overview actual regulations and consumer tests

This chapter provides a brief overview of the current or near future regulations and consumer tests that are related to restraint systems and IVS.
C.1
Introduction of organisations
The most important organisations working on and assisting regulation and standardisation activities in the automotive field are described below.
C.1.1
ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) Different Technical Committees can be identified within ISO, responsible for specific sectors of investigation. EEVC (European Enhanced Vehicle-safety Committee) The EEVC was founded in 1970 in response to the US Department of Transportations initiative for an international programme on Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESV) [65]. Governments of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Poland are members of the EEVC. The EEVC works via technical working groups, directed by the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is composed of two representatives of all members; one person from the government and one person from a governmental research organisation involved in vehicle research. The EEVC provides the link between government, research and development, industry, administration and regulation in the quest for safer road vehicles. It is not the role of the EEVC to develop vehicle regulations, but to act as technical advisor to the regulatory bodies like UN Economic Commission for Europe, working party 29. A steering committee (composed of representatives of the members) directs the technical work of the EEVC, which is organised in working groups. IHRA (International Harmonized Research Activities) The International Harmonized Research Activities (IHRA) were established under the ESV Programme in 1996. IHRA aims to conduct world-wide harmonised research to establish global regulations in the filed of side impact, compatibility & frontal impact, pedestrian protection, biomechanics and intelligent transportation systems. IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) The International Electrotechnical Commission is the leading global organisation that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies and has an important role in the standards concerning IVS. ISO The technical work of ISO is highly decentralised, carried out in a hierarchy of some 2 850 technical committees, subcommittees and working groups. In these committees, qualified representatives of industry, research institutes, government authorities, consumer bodies, and international organisations from all over the world come together as equal partners in the resolution of global standardisation problems [108]. TC 22 is concerned with road vehicles. TC 22 investigates all questions of standardisation concerning compatibility, interchangeability and safety, with particular reference to terminology and test procedures (including the characteristics of
C.1.2
C.1.3
C.1.4
C.1.5
Appendix C.2/2
instrumentation) for evaluating the performance of the following types of road vehicles and their equipment: mopeds (item m); motor cycles (item n); motor vehicles (item p); trailers (item q); semi-trailers (item r); light trailers (item s); combination vehicles (item t); articulated vehicles (item u).
C.2
Regulations related to restraint systems

Most important in this field are the regulations related to airbags and seat belts. There are large differences between the US and the EU and although our main focus is the EU situation, attention is paid towards the stronger US regulations as well since these may be followed in Europe as well in future.
C.2.1
EU requirements In the EU, vehicles have to comply ECE regulations. The ECE regulations include: ECE/R12 for steering column behaviour during a crash ECE/R14 for attachment points of safety belts ECE/R16 for safety belts and attachment systems ECE/R17 for seat strength and attachment ECE/R21 for sharp interior parts ECE/R25 for head restraint systems ECE/R32 for rear end crashes (deformation of passenger compartment) ECE/R33 for front end crashes (deformation of passenger compartment) ECE/R35 foot well intrusion ECE/R94 protection for frontal crash ECE/R95 protection for side crash Note that currently, the ECE regulations do not include airbag requirements. Besides the ECE regulations, there are EU directives which are often equal to the ECE regulations. In general, if the vehicle complies the ECE regulations, also the EUdirectives are fulfilled.
C.2.2
US requirements FMVSS 208 The purpose of the FMVSS 208 is to reduce the number of deaths of vehicle occupants and severity of injuries by specifying vehicle crashworthiness requirements and specifying equipment requirements for active and passive restraint systems. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published an amended version of the Federal Motor Vehicle Standard (FMVSS) 208 for occupant safety in motor vehicles on May 2000. Changes in the FMVSS 208 were needed because of the Transportation Equity for the 21st Century to improve occupant protection for occupants of different sizes, belted and unbelted while minimising the risk to infants, children and other occupants from injuries and deaths causes by airbags, by means that include advanced airbags [2].
Appendix C.3/3
Previously, the FMVSS 208 required all passenger cars manufactured after September 1, 1997, to be equipped with driver and passenger airbags including sun visor warning labels, along with manual lap and shoulder belt. For vehicles to be certified a 48 km/h frontal barrier test or a sled test with 48km/h generic sled pulse (unbelted) and 48 km/h frontal and oblique belted barrier tests with instrumented dummies had to be performed. The recent modifications to the FMVSS 208 include the use of small dummies to represent small stature drivers and child dummies to limit the risk of injuries to children. The new FMVSS 208 will be effective from September 2003 on (for 20% of vehicle production). The new additional tests include several static airbag tests to limit the risk of OOP related injuries. The airbag systems must either inflate in a low risk manner or suppress the deployment of the airbag if an out-of-position driver were detected. For the passenger side, the system must inflate at a low-speed impact inflation rate, suppress the airbag deployment in presence of a child, or suppress the deployment if the child moves close to the airbag during an impact [70]. Warning labels for airbags were specified by NHTSA in 1995 and were updated in the new FMVSS 208 proposal. Dorris and Associates [72] reviewed and analysed NHTSAs activities on airbag labels related to Human Factors Engineering (HFE) and warning literature. The introduction of an airbag-warning standard had to balance between informing people on minimising possible risk and avoiding alarm that could stop the acceptance and use of airbags. The need for occupants to be properly restrained and positioned as a primary prevention strategy should be clear from the labels. It was concluded that the requirements for the labels developed by NHTSA addressed the respective injury prevention policies, responding to Human Factors Engineering criteria. However, current Human Factor Engineering literature is found to inadequately meet the needs of regulatory agencies involved in precautionary labelling. Transport Canada suggested that the procedure described for the static out-of-position tests for the 5th percentile female dummy may not be representative for the worst case condition [73]. Therefore, a modified chin on hub procedure is proposed which prioritises chest placement. The procedure also positions the steering wheel in a location that is compatible with the visibility and comfort requirements of a 5th percentile driver. FMVSS 201 Requirements for instrument panels, seat backs, interior compartment doors, armrests and sun visors were specified by NHTSA in the FMVSS 201 (Occupant protection in interior impact). In 1995, the FMVSS 201U was created which also included requirements for a head striking pillars, side rails, headers and the roof. An update of the FMVSS201 in 1998 allows the presence of dynamically deployed upper-interior head protection systems. Advancements in testing methodologies in response to the FMVSS 201U requirements for curtain-type side airbags are studied by MGA Research Corporation [13]. Both airbag component testing and full scale testing (pole impact) are described. Note that the FMVSS 201 has similarities with ECE-21 head impact tests, in which a rigid sphere (6,7 kg, 165 mm) impacts the IP with 6.7 m/s. IHRA side impact working group on OOP procedures
Appendix C.4/4
The side airbag OOP injury technical working group (TWG) was sponsored by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (Alliance), Association of International Automobile Manufacturers (AIAM), Automotive Occupant Restraints Council (AORC), and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The objective was to develop a common understanding of the risks associated with side airbag deployments and ways to minimize those risks. A set of recommended procedures on side airbag OOP testing was the result. The side OOP test procedures proposed by the TWG cover airbags which deploy from the door or side trim panel, the back or cushion, the roof support pillars or roof rail area and occupants ranging from young children to adults.
C.3
Regulations related to intelligent vehicle systems

The technology developed in the field of IVS starts to emerge but it is not foreseen to be well implemented in the market in 5 to 10 years. Regulations actions fall in the following categories The EEVC created a new working group to study the effects of active-passive interaction on new legislation/. The terms of reference of this group are listed below (see: www.eevc.org): Overview of existing and future techniques and how this is coordinated by existing organisations Effect of these techniques on priorities for injury prevention Effect of these techniques on existing regulations
ISO and in particular, Technical Committee TC 22 and TC 204 activities, addressing safety issues in the automotive field, are of particular interest for the definition of a pre-crash standard.
The SARA (Short-range Automotive Radar frequency Allocation) group is an initiative taken from commercial companies (car manufacturers, sensors providers) in which the members wish to obtain a license for the frequency allocation at 24-GHz. Regulations authorities in Europe do actually not allow this frequency for automotive radar applications. The main reason is possible interference with other applications. The motivation for using this technology is that it will enable mass-production (cost effective) and also that the 24 GHz radar allows both large angle and near field detection (needed for pre-crash sensing applications).
C.4
Consumer tests: EuroNCAP

The EuroNCAP program is designed to provide a fair, meaningful and objective assessment of the impact performance of cars. It is intended to inform consumers, so providing an incentive to manufacturers as well as giving credit to those who excel at occupant and pedestrian protection [107]. EuroNCAP strongly influences car design because typically the severity levels in EuroNCAP test are higher than in regulatory tests. This results in stronger demands on the restraint systems. EuroNCAP promotes introduction of new features like seat belt reminders by including it in their test program although these features are not necessarily included in current regulatory.

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TNO report

Literature survey on in-vehicle safety devices

T +31 15 2696900 F +31 15 2624321 Rekveldt@wt.tno.nl

May 9, 2003 M.G.C. Rekveldt, MSc. K. Labibes, Ph.D.

Swedisch National Road Administration (SNRA) SE-78187 Borlnge Sweden

Safety belt systems

Figure 2 Conventional three- point belt system [96]

Figure 4 Load limiter [24]

Figure 7- SAHR mechanism [147].

Figure 10 Ring-airbag concept [15].

Figure 12 Schematic diagram of current production restraint system [103]

Figure 13 Summary of restraint performance in the field [104]

Side effects of restraint systems

Trends in restraint systems

For belted & unbelted occupants

Trends in airbags Some trends in airbag design are described below.

Figure 17 Advanced safety restraint system schematic diagram [103]

Figure 18 Potential effectiveness adaptive restraint systems [121]

Intelligent Vehicle Systems (IVS)

Figure 19 Different type of actions performed by IVS [145]

Figure 20 Potential of ESP for collision avoidance from Reference [128]

Figure 21 Safety benefits of ACC during emergency braking by simulation [84]

Figure 22 Holistic view on safety [54]

Figure 23 Pre-crash sensing in the chameleon project [29]

Criteria Infrastructure Fixed obstacles into the environme nt

Potentially Car moving Truck, obstacles bus

1 (5) 2 (6) 5 (15) 4 (13) 3 (11) 6 (16)

(1 most important, 5 less important)

Figure 24 Potential of Pre-Crash Sensing systems References [29]

Figure 26 Safety systems an their trends from reference [110]

Figure 27 Trends in safety systems from reference [112]

Remote sensor technology

Figure 28 Classification of the electromagnetic spectrum [26]

77 GHz radar Value 10

Figure 30 Example of an ACC scan characteristics from [38]

[15] [16] [17] [18]

[24] [25] [26] [27] [28]

[29] [30] [33] [31] [32] [33]

[36] [37] [38]

[47] [48] [49] [50] [51]

[53] [54] [55] [56] [57]

[60] [61] [62] [63] [64]

[81] [82] [83] [84] [85] [86] [87] [88]

[90] [91] [92] [93]

[94] [95] [96] [97] [98] [99]

[106] [107] [108] [109] [110] [111] [112] [113]

[114] [115] [116] [117] [118]

[143] [144] [145] [146] [147]

ASR ATT AVCS

ECU ESP FAST FAVs

(Head Up Display) (Intelligent Speed Adaptation)

ITS IVS IVSS LAB

PCS TTC VCO

(Pre Crash Sensing) (Time To Collision)

List of relevant IVS related EC projects

Overview actual regulations and consumer tests

Regulations related to restraint systems

Regulations related to intelligent vehicle systems

Consumer tests: EuroNCAP

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