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Position and rotation of driver's head as risk factor for whiplash in rear impacts

Evidence suggests that head position increases risk of whiplash injury to vehicle occupants in rear impacts. The aims of this study were to collect exposure data on head position and rotation during naturalistic driving and to express this in the form of a parametric statistical model for use in com...

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Main Authors: James Lenard, Karthikeyan Ekambaram, Andrew Morris
Format: Default Article
Published: 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2134/18095
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author James Lenard
Karthikeyan Ekambaram
Andrew Morris
author_facet James Lenard
Karthikeyan Ekambaram
Andrew Morris
author_sort James Lenard (1256088)
collection Figshare
description Evidence suggests that head position increases risk of whiplash injury to vehicle occupants in rear impacts. The aims of this study were to collect exposure data on head position and rotation during naturalistic driving and to express this in the form of a parametric statistical model for use in computer simulations to optimize seat design for neck injury prevention. An instrumented vehicle equipped with an eye-tracker was used to collect digital readings that were complemented with a four-track video recording. Data from driving trials (approximately 30-60 minutes) were analyzed when the vehicle was stopped, stopping or moving slowly as these are thought to be manoeuvres where impact and hence neck injury risk is highest. It was found that the ‘t location-scale’ distribution provided best fit to the experimental data and that the measured interquartile range or central 50% of head movement in such manoeuvres was approximately ± 15 mm lateral, ± 10 mm longitudinal and ± 7.5 degrees left-right rotation. These ranges provide guidance on the degree of biofidelity required in computer simulation models. Further analysis showed that out-of-range head rotation and rapid rotation explained the majority of missing digital readings and these two motions should therefore be modeled separately as elements of the parametric model.
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institution Loughborough University
publishDate 2015
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spelling rr-article-93482272015-01-01T00:00:00Z Position and rotation of driver's head as risk factor for whiplash in rear impacts James Lenard (1256088) Karthikeyan Ekambaram (1253625) Andrew Morris (1258926) Design not elsewhere classified Head position and rotation Risk factor Whiplash Softtissue neck injury Rear impact Naturalistic driving Seat design Design Practice and Management not elsewhere classified Evidence suggests that head position increases risk of whiplash injury to vehicle occupants in rear impacts. The aims of this study were to collect exposure data on head position and rotation during naturalistic driving and to express this in the form of a parametric statistical model for use in computer simulations to optimize seat design for neck injury prevention. An instrumented vehicle equipped with an eye-tracker was used to collect digital readings that were complemented with a four-track video recording. Data from driving trials (approximately 30-60 minutes) were analyzed when the vehicle was stopped, stopping or moving slowly as these are thought to be manoeuvres where impact and hence neck injury risk is highest. It was found that the ‘t location-scale’ distribution provided best fit to the experimental data and that the measured interquartile range or central 50% of head movement in such manoeuvres was approximately ± 15 mm lateral, ± 10 mm longitudinal and ± 7.5 degrees left-right rotation. These ranges provide guidance on the degree of biofidelity required in computer simulation models. Further analysis showed that out-of-range head rotation and rapid rotation explained the majority of missing digital readings and these two motions should therefore be modeled separately as elements of the parametric model. 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/18095 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Position_and_rotation_of_driver_s_head_as_risk_factor_for_whiplash_in_rear_impacts/9348227 CC BY 4.0
spellingShingle Design not elsewhere classified
Head position and rotation
Risk factor
Whiplash
Softtissue neck injury
Rear impact
Naturalistic driving
Seat design
Design Practice and Management not elsewhere classified
James Lenard
Karthikeyan Ekambaram
Andrew Morris
Position and rotation of driver's head as risk factor for whiplash in rear impacts
title Position and rotation of driver's head as risk factor for whiplash in rear impacts
title_full Position and rotation of driver's head as risk factor for whiplash in rear impacts
title_fullStr Position and rotation of driver's head as risk factor for whiplash in rear impacts
title_full_unstemmed Position and rotation of driver's head as risk factor for whiplash in rear impacts
title_short Position and rotation of driver's head as risk factor for whiplash in rear impacts
title_sort position and rotation of driver's head as risk factor for whiplash in rear impacts
topic Design not elsewhere classified
Head position and rotation
Risk factor
Whiplash
Softtissue neck injury
Rear impact
Naturalistic driving
Seat design
Design Practice and Management not elsewhere classified
url https://hdl.handle.net/2134/18095