Side Collision Research Articles

Study of nucleus orientation effect in the 238U+238U multinucleon transfer reaction

The improved quantum molecular dynamics model was employed to study the 238U+238U multinucleon transfer reaction at E c.m. = 833 MeV in this work. The influence of the orientation effect on the nuclear deformation at the contact moment, the composite system lifetime, the transfer rate and the fragment production mechanism are investigated. Statistical analysis reveals that at the contact moment, the orientation of the projectile and the target have less influence on each other and retain their respective initial characteristics to some extent. For collision parameters less than 6 fm, significant differences are observed in composite system lifetime and transfer rate under different orientation configurations; however, the orientation effect gradually diminishes with increasing collision parameters. Additionally, it is found that transfer reactions dominate when the collision parameter b ≤ 6 fm, while elastic and inelastic scattering events increase rapidly as the collision parameter exceeds 6 fm. Within the range of 10 ≤ b ≤ 13 fm, the transfer probability for side–side collisions is significantly higher compared to other cases.

[formula omitted]adaptive resonance ratio control for series elastic actuator with guaranteed transient performance

Series elastic actuator (SEA) technology is promising for the development of compliant robotic joints. Despite advancements in the realization of precise tracking, challenges persist in controlling the vibration and transient performance. This study enhanced the resonance ratio control (RRC) algorithm by integrating it with the L1 adaptive control (L1AC) method to address overshoot, static error, and vibration in SEA position control. Initially, the resonance between the motor and link sides caused by the elastic transmission structure was analyzed, which can result in overshoots and vibrations that affect the transient performance of the SEA control. Subsequently, a control scheme based on L1AC was introduced to enhance the performance. The stability of the proposed algorithm was demonstrated through a comprehensive exploration of key control parameters. Furthermore, the algorithm was augmented with gravity compensation, effectively reducing the predicted and reference errors. Consequently, the transient performance was improved. The efficacy of this enhanced algorithm was validated through simulations and experimental platforms, and comparisons with the RRC and model reference adaptive control algorithms. In all the experiments, the overshoot did not exceed 1.1%, the maximum jitter amplitude on the link side was within 0.2° , and a larger time constant in the controller could effectively eliminate the overshoot and vibration with a small response time delay. Furthermore, the algorithm exhibited a protective response during link side collisions by moderating link velocity and limiting motor current, to safeguard the contact environment, humans, and the SEA itself, which take advantage of the L1AC’s low-pass filter (LPF) properties in disturbance handling.

Improving the crashworthiness of B-Pillars in side-collisions

The B-pillar plays a crucial element in protecting passengers during side collisions. However, the current technology used in B-pillars is insufficient in providing adequate protection. Therefore, this research aims to investigate ways to improve the crashworthiness of the B-pillars. The study utilizes a 2020 Toyota Yaris due to its prevalence and poor side-crashworthiness and a right body measuring 80cm 60cm 40cm to simulate side collision. The results show that the velocity and acceleration of the upper B-pillar are greater than that of the lower B-pillar, indicating that the welding spot should be placed at the lower end of B-pillars, and the pillars thickness should be increased to enhance side crashworthiness. Furthermore, the study discovers that PVC, when combined with nano-materials, ABS resin, when combined through physical mixing, and SMC materials experience no significant deformation during collision while possessing an incomparably low density. Therefore, the study proposes the use of these stronger materials as an alternative to steel. The cost and feasibility of using these materials in mass production is also analyzed.

Mechanical performance simulation and optimal design of carbon fiber composite B-pillar

This study primarily concentrates on the layer optimization and structural refinement of carbon fiber composite B-pillars. In the initial phase, an initial layer configuration for the carbon fiber composite material B-pillar was devised, followed by comprehensive finite element numerical simulations. The weight of the B-pillar was effectively diminished by 44.9% compared to its metal counterpart, while maintaining consistent performance across diverse operational conditions. Subsequently, an advanced layer thickness optimization model was formulated, incorporating the innovative ‘super layer’ concept. Integration of simulation software, such as ISIGHT and ABAQUS, facilitated the determination of optimal layer thickness and ratio for the composite material. The layer order was systematically optimized through the application of a discrete particle swarm optimization algorithm based on exchange order, adeptly addressing issues related to discontinuous design variables and potential combinations. The incorporation of a ply drop-off structure laying scheme was derived, resulting in an impressive weight reduction of 57.5%. In the final phase, adherence to NCAP side collision testing standards enabled a comprehensive evaluation, where in various indicators including deformation mode, intrusion amount, and intrusion speed were employed. The results substantiate that the composite B-pillar exhibits equivalent side impact resistance to the original metal B-pillar, ensuring robust passenger protection.

The characteristics of e-scooter accidents reported by police in Türkiye

Objectives Shared e-scooter service has been offered by various operators in Türkiye since 2019. The use of private and shared e-scooters is increasing, especially in large cities. This raises social concerns about the dangers e-scooters pose regarding traffic safety and injuries requiring medical attention. This study aims to investigate the accidents related to e-scooters in Türkiye to determine the contributing factors and accident characteristics. Methods In this study, accident reports (collision reports) for 780 e-scooter collisions that occurred in 2021 in Türkiye were examined, and 771 accidents were included. Accident data were obtained from the Traffic Department of the Ministry of Interior, General Directorate of Security. Descriptive statistics of the factors affecting e-scooter accidents are presented to determine the relationship and differences; chi-square tests, independent samples t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, and binary logistic regression methods were used. Results Male e-scooter riders are involved in crashes and injured approximately 4 times more often than female riders. The average age for men injured in e-scooter accidents is 30.4, and the mean age for women is 27.2. For both males and females, most injuries occurred in the 15 to 20 age group. Riders under the age of 18 constitute a significant proportion of the accidents (32.5%). Most e-scooter accidents occur on Mondays and during the month of August. Most accidents occurred between 12:00 p.m. and 1:59 p.m. (15.7%) and between 4:00 p.m. and 5:59 p.m. (15.7%), mainly during the daytime. About half of the accidents occurred at intersections. In 10.5% of accidents, the accident occurred at a pedestrian crossing. Approximately one-fifth of the accidents involved falls, and the most common type of collision was a side collision (44.2%). The binary logistic regression model showed that multivehicle accidents occur more often at intersections and during busy traffic hours. Single-vehicle accidents are more common on concrete roads and stone block roads. Conclusions Deaths and injuries caused by road traffic accidents are a public health problem in Türkiye and constitute a significant health burden. If necessary precautions are not taken, this burden is likely to increase. We hope that the findings from this study will help reduce e-scooter accidents in Türkiye.

Mechanical analysis and interior stiffeners arrangement discussion of a specific ship side collision situation

Collision between ships of different sizes may result in a situation where a vessel with a higher deck height impacts another vessel with a lower deck height. In such case, the absence of bearing structure above the lower-draft struck ship's deck means that the bow of the high-draft striking ship transfers pressure to both the deck and side plates of the struck ship during collision. According to this situation, the numerical simulation of small scale compartment impacted by a higher-draft ship bow was carried out. Based on the analysis of the numerical results, the main impact area of the small scale compartment was simplified into a typical L-shaped plate-frame structure to facilitate the experiment. A small scale quasi-static experiment was implemented and the force-displacement curve and energy absorption data of the L-shaped structure penetrated by a rigid approximate bow indenter were obtained. Moreover, material tensile tests provided parameters for numerical simulation and the deformation process of the structure was analyzed. Based on that, several L-shaped structure cases with different stiffeners of height and position were calculated in LS-DYNA. Failure process, structural energy absorption and efficiency were summarized and the excellent structural characteristics for this ship side collision situation were obtained.

Side Collision Detection Model for Visually Impaired Using Monocular Object-specific Distance Estimation and Multimodal Real-World Location Calculation

Targeting the potential risk of side-vehicle collisions when the visually impaired crosses roads, this study proposed a side collision detection model, including monocular distance estimation, multimodal real-world location estimation, future location prediction and collision warning strategies tailored for visually impaired pedestrians. The proposed model employs YOLOv8 and DeepSort for vehicle detection and tracking, utilizing shallow neural networks for distance estimation based on image information and vehicle position data. Predicted vehicle distances are combined with magnetic field sensor and GPS data to compute and store real-world vehicle locations, and these location data will be used for linear regression to forecast future locations. A warning strategy is then implemented to alert users. Experimental validation shows that the monocular distance estimation network has an Absolute Relative Error of 0.043 and an ALE (Average Localization Error) of 1.249m. In real-world location estimation, the view angle ALE is 0.019, and the location ALE is 1.778m. Regarding location prediction, the accuracy in distinguishing stationary and moving vehicles reaches 0.962, and the predicted curve, based on ground truth and predicted locations, exhibits good alignment. The proposed warning strategy, evaluated on Kitti Tracking Dataset and a self-created dataset, accurately detects the majority of potential collision risks.

Weight reduction analysis of a four-door passenger car using computer-aided modelling and experimental investigation

The door of a passenger car is one of the key components used for the safety of passengers from side collisions. Mostly car doors are made of Steel that increase the overall weight of the vehicle since steel is the primary metal used for the construction of door. The main objective of this research is to replace Steel material of a car door with low-cost automotive materials such as aluminium alloy, magnesium alloy, and carbon fibre material to perform weight reduction analysis without compromising the strength and safety. A comprehensive theoretical study of the existing car door has been performed with 3D Computer-Aided Design (CAD) models through commercially available software SolidWorks. Results of this research work revealed that by selecting the appropriate engineering materials of the doors for a commercially available passenger car, the overall weight reduced to 45% when used aluminium material and 64% when used magnesium and carbon-fibre materials compared to the total weight of four doors made of typical steel material. Furthermore, reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emission was also obtained by reducing the overall weight of the passenger car doors. Lastly, the performance was measured through power-to-weight ratio (PWR) analysis for steel and aluminium which revealed that the latter material was more economical and lighter in weight than the former material.

Possibilities for further development of the driver's seat in the case of a non-conventional seating positions

The seat significantly contributes to driving safety. Ergonomic seats prevent physical strain and fatigue, so attention and concentration do not drop so quickly, which helps to avoid accidents. The article generally presents the development of seats used in cars and the current areas of use of rotatable seats. Furthermore, it gives an overview of the possible seating positions for fully autonomous vehicles. The article leads the reader through the crash test simulation focusing on the model used. Subsequently, the article presents the research results so far and the possibilities for further development of the driver's seat. The article highlights the change in the driver's movement kinematics as a crucial observation. This change significantly increases the risk of serious injury. In frontal collisions, the modified seat consistently demonstrates results below the specified limit. It is important to note that there are injury values that increase, but these are not a problem because they remain below the limit. In the case of a side collision, the aim was less to reduce injury values and more to better coordinate the kinematics of the passenger's movement during the accident. It can be concluded that this is achievable with the modified seat, as the passenger's movements are notably more predictable and coordinated under these circumstances.

Assessing the collision risk of mixed lane-changing traffic in the urban inter-tunnel weaving section using extreme value theory

Urban inter-tunnel weaving (UIW) sections are characterized by short lengths and frequent lane-changing behaviors in the area, commonly used for fast through traffic. These features increase the likelihood of collisions, however, collision risk assessment in this area has been inadequate. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential collision risk of urban inter-tunnel weaving (UIW) sections in mixed lane-changing traffic conditions in morning rush hours, utilizing surrogate safety measures. The investigation involved the collection of trajectory data via an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Time to collision (TTC) and extended time to collision (ETTC) were chosen as surrogate safety indicators. The estimation of collision risk was conducted using Extreme Value Theory (EVT) by means ofsurrogate safety indicators. It was found that the threshold of TTC and ETTC in this area was 1.25 s. Furthermore, a comprehensive evaluation of collision risks associated with various vehicle types was performed, revealing an inverse relationship between thecollisions riskof vehicles in mixed traffic and their size. It was worth noting that while heavy vehicles exhibit a lower collision risk, they resulted in the highest energy loss and inflicted greater harm in the event of a collision. By an examination of the distribution features pertaining to conflict types during the operation of heavy vehicles, it showed that the highest likelihood of conflict with heavy vehicles occurred when adjacent lanes are involved. Consequently, the implementation of assisted driving technology for heavy vehicles was imperative in order to mitigate the risk associated with side collisions.

Analysis of the mechanism of side impact of cars

Problem. Globally, car crashes are the major cause of death, killing 1.2 million people, and despite improvements in car safety, forecasts indicate that car crash deaths will increase significantly by 2030 due to the increase in the number of cars. Such a trend requires an increase in passive safety in the design of cars. It is also necessary to consider with these factors the most popular segments of SUV cars, which during an accident create more dangerous consequences in the event of a side impact, taking into account the mass and dimensions parameters. Goal. The aim is to conduct an analysis of the side collision mechanism of cars of different mass and dimensional parameters. Taking into account the trends in the sale of cars, identifying the most popular classes of cars in Ukraine both on the new car market and on the second-hand market, to further identify problems in testing cars according to various certification protocols. Methodology. The approaches to solving the tasks used in the work are based on the use of statistical data and comparative analysis of various methodologies and certification protocols. Results. Considering that scientific studies of frontal impact are presented by the scientific community in the broadest form, the study of the side impact of two cars is currently a relevant direction, taking into account the global trend towards the production of cars in the SUV segment, which exceed passenger cars in terms of mass and dimensions. In a road accident with a side impact of a passenger car and an off-road vehicle of the SUV segment, we will get a large difference in the height of the primary impact, which is 250 millimeters. That is, all the energy of the impact to the side of the passenger car falls not on the safety bar, but 250 millimeters higher, which will inevitably lead to fatal injuries to the driver and passenger. Unfortunately, the European NCAP and the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration use moving barriers that are similar in terms of mass and dimensions to an average passenger car. Originality. The obtained results of the analysis of the mechanism of the car side collision make it possible to evaluate the current trend of the automobile market in terms of passive safety and, in particular, to conduct certification tests for side impact in a new way. Practical value. The obtained results can be recommended when studying the structural features of preparing and conducting crash tests.

Parametric design and modeling method of carbon fiber reinforcement plastic-laminated components applicable for multi-material vehicle body development

Abstract Combined application of steel, aluminum, and carbon fiber reinforcement plastic (CFRP) is the main direction of future lightweight body development. However, the anisotropy and additional lamination design variables of CFRP parts pose significant challenges for the development of multi-material bodies. This study establishes a parametric design method for the variable-thickness lamination scheme based on non-uniform rational B-splines, it can be coupled with existing parametric design methods for structural shapes to formulate a complete parametric design and modeling of CFRP components. On this basis, a homogenized intermediate material property is derived from classic laminate theory by introducing lamination assumptions, it enables a stepwise multi-material body optimization method to solve the challenge that components’ material design variables switching between CFRP and alloy will introduce/eliminate lamination design variables iteratively, posing a great optimization convergence difficulty. The proposed parametric modeling method for CFRP components was validated by experimental tests of a fabricated roof beam, and the proposed optimization method was applied to a vehicle body, achieving 15.9%, 23.9%, 18.6%, and 12.2% increase in bending and torsional stiffness and modal frequencies; 20.2%, 9.3%, and 12.7% reduction of weight and peak acceleration in frontal and side collisions. This study enables the forward design of multi-material bodies compatible with CFRP parts.

Study on driver’s active emergency response in dangerous traffic scenes based on driving simulator

Objective A driver’s active emergency response in dangerous traffic scenes consists of two parts, including reaction behavior and physiological state. In dangerous traffic scenes, the driver’s active emergency response has an important impact on human collision injury. Clarifying the driver’s active emergency response is an important prerequisite for the study of human collision injury under nonstandard posture. Therefore, this study investigates the driver’s active emergency response in different inevitable collision scenes using driving simulator. Methods A driving simulator with a high-speed camera system and human physiological signal acquisition system was first built. Then, three typical vehicle dangerous collision scenes were developed, including frontal collision, side collision, and rear-end collision. Finally, twenty participants (15 males and 5 females) were recruited for a driving experiment, and their active emergency responses were recorded and analyzed. Results All subjects would rotate the steering wheel to the left or right in the active emergency state, and the rotation of the hand would also cause the subject’s upper body to tilt in the same direction. The maximum angle for male subjects to rotate the steering wheel was 59.98°, while for the female subjects, it was 44.28°. In addition, the maximum grip force between the male subjects and the steering wheel was 280.5 N, compared to 192.5 N for female subjects. Compared to the female participants, the male participants not only have a greater rotation angle and a greater grip force on the steering wheel, but also have greater pressure on the brake pedal, and the foot moves quickly from the accelerator pedal to the brake pedal and presses the brake pedal. Conclusions Drivers have different active emergency responses to different vehicle collision scenes. Quantitative statistics of driver’s active emergency response will have important guiding significance for the analysis of the impact of human active emergency response on human injury characteristics in subsequent vehicle collision experiments.

Experimental investigation on failure mechanisms of hybrid steel/GFRP hat‐shaped beams under bending loading

AbstractThe bending failure mechanism and energy absorption characteristics of hybrid metal/composite structures are the keys to the side collision safety of automobiles. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the bending behavior and failure mechanism of hybrid Steel/GFRP hat‐shaped beams under three‐point bending. Firstly, both quasi‐static and dynamic three‐point bending tests were conducted on Steel, GFRP and hybrid Steel/GFRP hat‐shaped beams. Then, the effect of layups and loading speeds on the bending failure behaviors of GFRP hat‐shaped beams were investigated, and the five stages of the bending process of GFRP hat‐shaped beams were exposed. Finally, the failure mechanism of hybrid Steel/GFRP hat‐shaped beams under both quasi‐static and dynamic three‐point bending were investigated. It is found that the failure mechanism is related to the interaction effect between the Steel and GFRP parts in the hybrid Steel/GFRP hat‐shaped beam. In the bending failure process, the crack propagation in GFRP parts is delayed by the plastic deformation of the connected Steel parts, which improves the energy absorption and load carrying capacities of the hybrid Steel/GFRP hat‐shaped beam, and this improvement in the whole bending process is quantitatively exposed in this work. Besides, it is found that with the same impact energy, the load carrying capacity of the hybrid Steel/GFRP hat‐shaped beam can be increased by the loading roll diameter increasing.Highlights A bending process with five stages of GFRP hat‐shaped beams is exposed. The loading speed increases impact loads due to the strain rate strengthening. The interaction between Steel and GFRP improves the load carrying capacity. The load carrying improvement is due to crack propagation delay in GFRP parts. The greater loading roll diameter increases the load carrying capacity.

Influence of Traction Battery Arrangement on Risk of Thermal Runaway and Loads Suffered by Electric Vehicle Occupant during Side Collision

In the current electric vehicles, the purpose of the traction battery is to store energy. When designing this battery, different parameters are considered to arrange the battery/module/cells in the mechanically and thermally safest configuration. Moreover, the battery layout must produce correct dynamic behavior during collisions. In the present study, different battery configurations plus added energy absorbers were analyzed. To achieve this, an internal combustion vehicle modeled with finite elements was applied as the reference model. The structural behavior of the different battery configurations in the event of a side collision was examined. First, the safest arrangement was established with respect to both cabin intrusion and thermal runaway propagation. Second, the safest arrangement that guarantees the safety of the occupants in the event of a side collision was analyzed using MADYMO. This software includes experimentally validated dummies that allow insight into the stresses experienced by occupants. The results of the analysis showed that battery pack inclusion in the vehicle increases the stiffness of the car floor, resulting in fewer intrusions into the passenger compartment. Therefore, safety of the occupants is increased. However, none of the configurations analyzed showed sufficient safety against thermal runaway. This study contains sufficient contributions to the new body of knowledge, since there is no study that analyzes the safest configuration in terms of battery behavior with respect to intrusion into the passenger compartment and the effect of thermal runaway, together with the fact that this is the safest configuration for occupants after analyzing the injuries they experience in a side collision for the different configurations.

Head Impacts during the Direct Frontal (Forehead) and Side (Temple) Collision - Human vs. Hybrid III Dummy

Head Impacts during the Direct Frontal (Forehead) and Side (Temple) Collision - Human vs. Hybrid III Dummy

Driver Injury from Vehicle Side Impacts When Automatic Emergency Braking and Active Seat Belts Are Used.

As an advanced driver assistance system, automatic emergency braking (AEB) can effectively reduce accidents by using high-precision and high-coverage sensors. In particular, it has a significant advantage in reducing front-end collisions and rear-end accidents. Unfortunately, avoiding side collisions is a challenging problem for AEB. To tackle these challenges, we propose active seat belt pretensioning on driver injury in vehicles equipped with AEB in unavoidable side crashes. Firstly, records of impact cases from China's National Automobile Accident In-Depth Investigation System were used to investigate a scenario in which a vehicle is impacted by an oncoming car after the vehicle's AEB system is triggered. The scenario was created using PreScan software. Then, the simulated vehicles in the side impact were devised using a finite element model of the Toyota Yaris and a moving barrier. These were constructed in HyperMesh software along with models of the driver's side seatbelt, side airbag, and side curtain airbag. Moreover, the models were verified, and driver out-of-position instances and injuries were evaluated in simulations with different AEB intensities up to 0.7 g for three typical side impact angles. Last but not least, the optimal combination of seatbelt pretensioning and the timing thereof for minimizing driver injury at each side impact angle was identified using orthogonal tests; immediate (at 0 ms) pretensioning at 80 N was applied. Our experiments show that our active seatbelt with the above parameters reduced the weighted injury criterion by 5.94%, 22.05%, and 20.37% at impact angles of 90°, 105°, and 120°, respectively, compared to that of a conventional seatbelt. The results of the experiment can be used as a reference to appropriately set the collision parameters of active seat belts for vehicles with AEB.

New load transfer structure to reduce body deformation in side collisions

Objective In this research, body technology was established for side collisions with new IIHS MDB as a representative case. In the conventional body structure, most of the load received from the barrier is absorbed by bending deformation of the door beam and B-pillar, etc. For that reason, the body is subjected to large deformation before reaching the maximum load, and the deformation increases further when subjected to a high-energy collision. Therefore, the objective of this research is to create a structure that increases the load from the initiation of impact and suppresses the deformation of the car body. Method An arched door beam was developed to reduce the bending moment by the axial load in the longitudinal direction generated during the deformation and to increase the load in the lateral direction. A principle equation was developed that uses the shape of the door beam as a variable. A prototype of the arched door beam was fabricated, and its performance was evaluated by an impactor test. A full-car simulation was conducted using a mass-produced sedan as a base, to which the arched door beam was added to verify the performance of the complete vehicle. Results The results of the impactor tests were evaluated using the load gradient, which was defined as the generated load divided by the amount of deformation. Compared to conventional straight door beams, the load gradient was 7.1 times higher. Full-car simulation results showed that for a gasoline-powered vehicle body weight, the body load gradient of the proposed structure was 4.7 times higher, and the body deformation adjacent to the dummy shoulder was reduced by 210 mm. Spine acceleration of the dummy was reduced by 56%. Conclusion The body structure proposed in this research has the effect of increasing the load gradient and reducing body deformation and spine acceleration. It is expected to be applicable to EVs and FCVs, which require more energy absorption due to their increased vehicle weight.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INJURIES TO DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS IN THE CABIN OF B-CLASS CARS IN AN ANGLE COLLISION

The article presents the features of damage to the driver and passenger in the cabin of a B-class car during an angle collision.
 The cases of road accidents from 2008 to 2021 in the Zhytomyr, Rivne, and Volyn regions of Ukraine were analyzed. Cases of angle (right and left) collisions with fatal consequences for the driver and the passenger in the front seat of B-class cars were considered in automobile trauma. General scientific and special methods were used: system-structural analysis, observation, comparison, description. In addition, a forensic examination of the injuries was carried out. Statistical analysis included primary processing of data by methods of descriptive statistics and testing of the null hypothesis by the method of multifactorial analysis.
 The results. A frequency analysis of received injuries was carried out. In the case of a left side collision in the passenger compartment of a B-class car, the drivers suffered injuries to the front of the body, often injuries to the soft tissues of the left leg. It is noteworthy that the soft tissues of the right hand were not injured in the left side collision. Passengers of B-class cars had frontal torso injuries in the case of a left angle collision, as did the drivers. Also common patterns were the absence of damage to the body from behind, rupture of the symphysis, and pelvic fractures on both sides.
 Conclusion. In the case of fatal injury in the cabin of B-class cars in the case of a right-side collision, the drivers had numerous injuries to the back and front of the body. The injuries in the car interior differed in the presence of soft tissue damage to all four limbs, but bone fractures of both the upper and lower limbs were localized exclusively on the right. As with the left and right lateral impact, there was no fracture of the pelvic bones on both the left and the right side with preservation of the integrity of the pubic symphysis.
 For drivers with fatal injuries in the cabin of B-class cars in the case of a right-side collision, multiple injuries of the thoracic and abdominal organs and the retroperitoneal space were observed: injuries to the right and left kidneys, lacerations of the liver, lacerations of the right and left lungs.

Training for walking through an opening improves collision avoidance behavior in subacute patients with stroke: a randomized controlled trial

Purpose Paretic side collisions frequently occur in stroke patients, especially while walking through narrow spaces. We determined whether training for walking through an opening (T-WTO) while entering from the paretic side would improve collision avoidance behavior and prevent falls after 6 months. Materials and Methods Thirty-eight adults with moderate-to-mild hemiparetic gait after stroke who were hospitalized in a rehabilitation setting were randomly allocated to the T-WTO (n = 20) or regular rehabilitation (R-Control; n = 18) program. Both groups received five sessions of 40 min per week, for three weeks total. T-WTO included walking through openings of various widths while rotating with the paretic side in front, and R-Control involved normal walking without body rotation. Obstacle avoidance ability, 10-m walking test, timed Up and Go test, Berg Balance Scale, Activities-specific Balance Confidence, the perceptual judgment of passability, and fall incidence were assessed. Results Collision rate and time to passage of the opening in obstacle avoidance task significantly improved in the T-WTO group compared with those in the R-Control group. Contrast, T-WTO did not lead to significant improvements in other outcomes. Conclusions T-WTO improved efficiency and safety in managing subacute stroke patients. Such training could improve patient outcomes/safety because of the paretic body side during walking. Clinical Trial Registration No. R000038375 UMIN000033926