A STUDY ON THE MECHANISM OF OCCUPANT'S CERVICAL INJURY BY LOW SPEED REAR-END COLLISION OF AUTOMOBILES

Neck injury in rear-end car collisions is an increasing concern in the field of traffic safety. This injury commonly occurs at rear-end impact, however the injury mechanisms for whiplash remain a mystery. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively analyze the head and neck kinematics during the low-speed rear-end impact of automobiles. It is important to produce data that is related as closely as possible to the in vivo situation. So, we performed a sled test which simulated rear-end impacts with a velocity of 0.6 m/s with five normal healthy male subjects. 3-D motion analysis system was used to document motion data of two situations. When we compare the values of angular velocity and acceleration of head and neck, the peak magnitudes of inclined seated posture were smaller than those of upright seated posture. The result of this study is expected to provide insight that will aid in determining the mechanism of whiplash which is crucial to the identification of possible injury mechanisms.