Injury severity of occupants in lateral collisions in standard and small vehicles: Analysis of ITARDA's in-depth investigation data

Abstract

A retrospective analysis was performed to investigate the differences in occupant injury characteristics between standard and small vehicles in lateral collision. From the in-depth data of the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (ITARDA) from 1993 to 2003, data were collected for 331 adults who were front-seat occupants involved in single lateral motor vehicle collisions. The accident information, the subjects’ medical data and the anatomical injury severity scores were examined. The involved passenger vehicles were classified as small or standard. Seatbelts were effective in decreasing the head–neck injury severity of far-side occupants of standard vehicles, but in small vehicles, no significant benefit was observed. In standard vehicles, far-side occupants suffered less severe injuries than near-side occupants, but this trend was not apparent in small vehicles. These differences may result from the smaller interior space of the smaller vehicles.