WORKSHOP 3

Engineers Australia Annual Injury Biomechanics Workshop

Organisers: Injury Biomechanics Panel, Engineers Australia

Chair: Michael Griffiths, Road Safety Solutions

Frontiers in Vehicle Safety Technology and Testing A one-day seminar/workshop from Engineers Australia's National Panel on Biomechanics of Impact Injury

1.0 Who is this workshop for?

Anyone who has an interest in what vehicle secondary safety systems currently offer in terms of injury protection, but more particularly what are the options and likely direction for improvements in vehicle secondary safety systems in the near future.

2.0 What will attendees learn?

In April 2008, the Australian Government signed the "1998 Agreement" - a United Nations treaty dealing with vehicle standards. Under the 1998 Agreement, Global Technical Regulations (GTRs) are developed, with a GTR for Electronic Stability Control being the most recent example. What are the obligations and implications associated with this treaty and what does this mean for motor vehicle regulation in Australia?

The seat belt system continues to be the main and most effective safety system fitted to a motor vehicle. Other newer technology, such as airbags, act as a supplement to improve the safety offered by the seat belt in a crash. Learn about the unseen but highly effective improvements to restraints front and rear. Get a basic understanding from an injury biomechanics perspective how the human body is packaged to prevent injury.

Rear seats are not a copy of front seats. The enhanced safety technology such as anti-submarining pans for buttocks engagement, force limiters, pretensioners, side airbags, enhanced seatbelt geometry, are not currently required by regulation in rear seats. Also they are not assessed in consumer programs. As a result, any flow on of improved safety technology for front seats is almost entirely a matter of voluntary application by the vehicle industry. In many of the more popular vehicles, rear seat safety technology lags several decades behind front seats. Recent research has reported that the rear seat is no longer the safest seat in the car!

Curtain airbags can provide good head protection for occupants sitting on the struck side of the vehicle, but what about occupants on the far side of the vehicle. The vehicle industry and regulators are currently evaluating devices such as an airbag located between the two front seats to keep the far side occupant in position and away from harm. Several different types of four point seatbelts are also under development and evaluation by the vehicle industry.

Australia's infant restraints and forward facing child seats for children up to approximately five years of age are by far the world's best restraint systems in terms of providing protection. However, until recently, Australia has not attempted to push the frontiers of better protection for children between 5 and 10 years of age who are not yet large enough to get proper protection from an adult sized seatbelt. The proposed new bigger booster (known as the Australian Standards Type F) intends to create a new class of booster for children in the older age group. It is intended to "leap frog" levels of protection offered by styles of bigger boosters currently available in the U.S. and Europe.

Regulatory and consumer driven approaches are in their early stages on trying to promote car fronts which offer better protection for impacts with pedestrians. A Global Technical Regulation on pedestrian protection is currently being drafted and may be adopted in Australia. Does the Global Technical Regulation represent a step forward for pedestrian safety, or a weak standard which may erode current developments in the area?

The biggest driver of consumer driven change in the area of vehicle safety in Australia is the Australasian New Car Assessment Program. Commenced in the early 1990's, it had an immediate effect of fast-tracking the introduction of airbags in Australian vehicles. As the second Government sponsored vehicle safety consumer crash test program in the world (following the U.S.), what are its options to push harder and enhance future vehicle safety.

Has rollover protection finally made it as a priority? Past priorities for improving vehicle occupant safety has been front seat occupants in frontal crashes, and front seat occupants in side crashes. Some of the current priorities include:- rear seat occupant protection in frontal crashes, rear seat occupant protection in side on crashes, and far side front seat occupants in side on crashes. As each area of occupant risk is researched and new protective measures introduced, researchers move on to the next area in greatest need. Rollover protection has moved up in priority. In the U.S. it is currently proposed to nearly double the roof strength requirements for vehicles. Other stakeholders say this is nowhere near enough. This presentation will attempt to inform attendees on who wants what, what are the options and possible benefits to Australia's road users.

Frontiers in Vehicle Safety Technology and Testing

A one day seminar from Engineers Australia's Injury Biomechanics National Panel

DRAFT PROGRAM

Possible effects on vehicle safety resulting from Australia's signing the 1998 agreement

- presentation from Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

Pedestrian safety requirements for car fronts - is new regulation assisting or diluting?

- presentation from Daniel Searson and Robert Anderson, CASR

Rear seat safety - Not a copy of the front seat and not as safe as you thought

- presentation by Michael Griffiths, Road Safety Solutions

Rear seat restraint biomechanics -Hidden performance enhancing technology on seatbelts

- presentation by Tom Gibson, Human Impact Engineering

Better Boosters for Bigger Kids

- Lynn Bilston, Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

Australasian New Car Assessment Program - options for the future

- presentation from Jack Haley, NRMA, and Michael Paine, Vehicle Design and Research

Rollover - a summary of the different approaches being promoted in the U.S. and Europe from Government regulators, consumer groups and litigators

- presentation by Bill Bailey.

Developments in far side occupant protection

- presentation by Hee Loong Wong, Hyundai Motor Company Australia.