Why Do Bad Things Happen to People In “Good” Cars?

Many modern vehicles have advanced restraint systems and high crashworthiness ratings, yet injuries and fatalities still occur in crashes involving these vehicles. Have advanced restraint systems reduced the rate of serious injuries? What factors are associated with fatalities that occur in highly rated vehicles? In fatal crashes involving fire, can the contributing role of crash forces be distinguished from thermal effects? How have knowledge and data increased to help answer important questions associated with a specific crash incident? What sort of claims arise with rapidly advancing driver assist technology?

Presenters:  Amy Courtney, Ph.D., CAISS (Injury Biomechanics); Marc Paradiso, M.S., P.E. (Accident Reconstruction); Regan Lawson, Ph.D. (Human Factors)

Key Takeaways:

• Real-world crash data shows that advanced restraint systems have generally reduced the rate of severe injury in frontal collisions
• Crash features previously associated with increased risk of fatality still are
• Fatal crashes with vehicle fire raise challenging questions that can be scientifically analyzed
• Advanced crash sensing and restraint deployment data aid in scientific analyses as well as incident reconstruction
• Real-world crash data shows that advanced driver assist systems generally reduce the rates of relevant collisions
• The influence of an individual’s perceptual, motor, and cognitive system capabilities and limitations on driver decisions and actions, with respect to the use of restraint systems and response to warnings, can be scientifically analyzed
• Active research and expanded testing programs provide more data than ever before
• Scientific and engineering expertise can be leveraged to evaluate claims associated with rapidly advancing driver assist technology

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1 hour General CLE credit has been requested.

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