Potential head injury mitigation of M-AEB in real-world motorcycle crashes

Abstract

The study was dealing with to evaluate whether the motorcycle impact speed reduction produced by an ideal Motorcycle Autonomous Emergency Braking system (M-AEB) is sufficient to significantly reduce the head injury severity of a helmeted rider. A set of thirteen motorcycle crashes were analysed. Multibody simulations of the victim’s kinematics were used to identify the impact conditions of the head against the colliding object. Two levels of impact speed reduction hypothetically produced by M-AEB were considered: 4 km/h and 8 km/h. A mean reduction of 10% to 18% in a head impact velocity was observed. Mixed effects models showed a significant relationship between crash configurations, motorcycle impact speed reduction, and head impact velocity components. However, non-identified parameters may have had a role in the head injury mitigation effects. This study shows that M-AEB system can reduce the rider’s head impact velocity with potential consequences on head traumas.