THE INFLUENCE OF INCREASED ROOF STRENGTH ON BELTED AND UNBELTED DUMMIES IN ROLLOVER AND DROP TESTS. IN: OCCUPANT AND VEHICLE RESPONSES IN ROLLOVERS

This chapter on in influence of increased automobile roof strength in rollover and drop tests is from a comprehensive text on occupant and vehicle responses in rollovers. In this chapter, the authors condense and summarize two previously published reports that analyzed the effect of added roof strength on belted and unbelted dummies. The authors present data from a total of 16 rollover crash tests and four test conditions in which vehicles were dropped on their roofs. Half of all test vehicles had production roofs; the other half had rigid rollcages. The results of these tests demonstrated that increased roof strength offers no reduction in dummy neck loads for belted or unbelted dummies (when they were over the area of the roof that hit the ground). The neck loads resulted from diving type impacts where the head stops and the torso momentum compresses the neck. The authors note that increasing the roof strength will reduce deformation but it will not reduce neck loading when the occupant is at the point of impact.