ROLLOVER CRASH TESTS - THE INFLUENCE OF ROOF STRENGTH ON INJURY MECHANICS. IN: OCCUPANT AND VEHICLE RESPONSES IN ROLLOVERS

There has been ongoing research and discussion regarding the effect of roof strength on rollover protection since the 1950s. This chapter on the influence of roof strength on injury mechanics is from a comprehensive text on occupant and vehicle responses in rollovers. In this chapter, the authors report on a series of eight lateral dolly rollover tests that were conducted on 1983 Chevrolet Malibus at a speed of 32 mi/h (51.5 km/h). Four of the vehicles had rollcages; four had standard production roofs. Numerous cameras documented the vehicle and Hybrid III dummy movements during the tests. Results showed that, for both roof structures, the dummies moved upward and outward from their seats due to rotation and acceleration of the vehicle. High head/neck loads were measured when the head contacted a part of the car experiencing a large change in velocity (often that part of the car that struck the ground). The authors conclude that roof strength is not an important factor in head/neck injuries in rollover accidents for unstrained occupants. In addition, there was no significant difference in the occupant kinematics between standard and rollcaged vehicles. However, the vehicles with rollcages had less glass breakage. The chapter includes extensive appendices that reproduce photographs from each of the 8 tests.