A seat mounted restraint solution for far side impacts

Passenger car side impacts are commonly recognized as near side crashes in which the impact occurs directly on the vehicle side that the occupant is seated, and for which most side impact restraints are developed. However, side collisions can also include far side impacts in which the impact occur to the opposite side of the vehicle than where the occupant is seated. Unlike the more commonly known side impact mode, far side impacts have few available countermeasures in the field. Analysis of German field data from DESTATIS and GIDAS show that 44% of all fatalities in side collisions occur in far side impacts. This percentage of all German side impact fatalities is an even greater percentage than shown in a recently published US field data analysis. This significant percentage of far side fatalities shows the need for a specialized restraint device addressing this impact mode. In addition to the fatality picture, German field data also identified the head and torso as the most commonly inured body regions in far side impact. In this paper, the front center airbag, an inboard seat mounted supplemental restraint will be discussed as a comprehensive far side impact countermeasure. Designed to cover the occupant’s head and torso region, this airbag has been shown to reduce driver lateral head travel by 29% in single occupant US oblique pole sled tests and also provided a significant HIC reduction when cushioning occupants in a dual occupant crash test. Although described as a far side impact countermeasure, the front center airbag also has potential to provide restraint in rollover situations due to its longer pressure retention similar to current curtain airbag technologies. This technology has been matured to a mass production level and has been launched in 2012 in North America. (A)