VERTEBRAL COLUMN INJURIES IN 90-DEGREES COLLISIONS. A STUDY WITH POST-MORTEM HUMAN OBJECTS. PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1987 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE BIOMECHANICS OF IMPACTS, HELD IN BIRMINGHAM (UNITED KINGDOM) SEPTEMBER 8-10, 1987

A total of 58 90-degrees car to car lateral collisions was performed. The impact velocity of the striking vehicle was 40, 45, 50 and 60 km/h, respectively. The struck vehicle was stationary. Post-mortem human subjects (pmhs) in the age range of 19 to 65 years were used as test subjects. The case of the restrained near-side occupant was simulated. The acceleration instrumentation included the 12-accelerometer array and head temporal left and right; the collision phase was documented with high-speed cameras. The average acceleration at the th 1 amounted to 100 g, the one at the th 12 120 g. The lateral bending of the head increased with impact velocity and reached its maximum at 70-80 ms after the crash. In the 40 km/h tests, head bending angles of 70 degrees were observed, in the 60 km/h test they amounted to 90 degrees. Spinal column injuries occurred in 43 of the 58 test subjects, predominantly in the area of the cervical spine and the upper thoracic vertebral column. In consideration of the kinematic analysis one can conclude that in the loading phase of the spinal column a tension load occurs at the far-side and a compression at the near-side. In the spinal column injuries 25 cases were observed as abbreviated injury scale (AIS) 1 and 15 cases as AIS 2. In two further test subjects injury severities of AIS 3 were observed. There was one case of AIS 5. Considering the frequency and severity of spinal column injuries in the simulated accidents one can conclude that spinal column injuries are not critical. The thoracic injuries (rib fractures) and abdominal injuries (liver ruptures, right side impact) are decisive for the injury severity in the lateral collision. (Author/TRRL)