The frontal-impact response of a booster-seated child-size PMHS

Abstract

This paper presents the response of a child-size Post Mortem Human Subject in a series of frontal impact sled tests. Specific focus is on the whole-body kinematics and resulting head trajectories under two different restraint conditions (booster seat and standard belt, booster seat and force-limiting pre-tensioning belt) in a rear seat environment. At 48 km/h, the pretensioning, force-limiting seatbelt reduced the forward excursion of both the head (353 mm vs. 424 mm) and the h-point (120 mm vs. 152 mm) compared to the standard system. Maximum torso pitch was similar for both seatbelts. There were no apparent adverse effects of the force-limiting or pretensioning for the limited sets of conditions considered here.