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Protecting Pedestrians Through Vehicle Design (2)
Bodies Flying
In order to protect pedestrian more and lessen injury as much as possible, design engineers expect to design vehicles to cause less injury to a pedestrian in a collision. In the preparation period, engineers and researchers spend time reviewing real-world crash data, using computer simulations of crashes and performing actual crash testing with full dummies and test devices, called impactors, that represent portions of dummies' bodies (such as a leg or a head).
Statistics show that most pedestrians are struck by the front of a vehicle, but what happens in the crash varies widely depending on several factors, including the type of vehicle, its speed and the height of the pedestrian. The result is a multitude of scenarios that makes studying these accidents challenging.
For example, when a vehicle hits a pedestrian who is crossing the street, the vehicle's bumper and the front edge of the hood generally strike the person. A taller vehicle, such as an SUV, means impact higher on the body, while increased speed of the vehicle means the pedestrian will likely be propelled up over the hood. But it's not even as "simple" as that, according to Douglas Longhitano, a senior engineer at Honda R&D Americas, Inc., who has spent his career focused on safety research and received the U.S. Government Award for Engineering Excellence for his work in pedestrian protection in 2007.
"When someone is crossing the street as they are hit, their body will move forward or backward depending on the way their leg is positioned, since they are usually in a walking stride, not standing still," explains Longhitano. "If the driver hits the brakes, the person typically ends up on the ground in front of the vehicle, but if the driver doesn't brake, the person continues to hit an exterior mirror and land on the driver or passenger side of the vehicle."
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