Design and Structure of the Windscreen as Part of Injury Reduction for Car Occupants, Pedestrians and Bicyclists 942231

The objective of this study was to analyze the injury risk of the windscreen pane and to consider means for an injury reduction by an optimized structure and angle of the windscreen pane and give demands for the vehicle construction. Accident documentations from in-depth investigations by the Accident Research Unit of the Medical University Hannover (ARU Hannover) by order of German Federal Road Authority (Bundesanstalt für Straβenwesen) were analyzed for this purpose. For that 71 belt-protected front-seat passengers and 192 pedestrians and cyclists resepectively who suffered injuries by impact to the windscreen pane in frontal collisions were investigated. An impact to the windscreen in the region of the frame appears to have especially serious consequences. 5.9% of the belt-protected front occupants and 22.8% of pedestrians or cyclists respectively suffered serious injuries (AIS 3+). A windscreen impact of a belted person seems to be a problem of the body height, 70% of the involved persons were taller than 170 cm and of the impact energy level. For car front occupants with belt protection a smaller proportion (3%) of head-impact situations to windscreen panes is due to the fact that the seat belt, on principle prevents a forward-moving to this region. Injuries by impact to the windscreen pane could be registered in speed changes during the collision above Delta-v 20 km/h. For pedestrians and cyclists, an impact to the region of the windscreen pane leads in 13% of the cases frequently to head injuries. This can be observed in the accident situation above approximately 25 km/h impact speed of the car. With this study it could be pointed out, that influences of the localisation of the impact point of the head on the pane is of importance for the injury severity. An impact to the center of the pane surface at distance from the frame region shows a lower injury risk; the inclination angle of the pane in relatively flat position shows a lower injury severity to the head.