Abstract
For further reduction of vehicular occupant fatalities, we must establish the vital body regions requiring protection for future safety technological developments. This study aimed to understand the main body regions affected in serious or fatal injuries of vehicle occupants during traffic accidents. We analyzed the detailed distribution of body regions using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) codes from the database of the National Automotive Sampling System-Crashworthiness Data System (2001–2015) in the USA. Based on the analysis results, the head (cerebral injury) and thorax (multifocal rib fracture and lung injury) are frequently injured in AIS 4 (severe injury) and AIS 5 (critical injury). In particular, elderly people are more likely to have thorax injuries in AIS 4 and 5 due to decreased bone mineral content. As the general population ages, we propose that future development of safety devices should be focused on both the prevention of body movement and reduction of the load on the thorax during activation of the inertia force in a vehicular cabin.
