Computer crash simulations in the development of child occupant safety policies

Objective: To address the predictability of injury from air bag activation by use of crash simulation software. Methods: Using current, validated crash simulation software, the effect of air bag activation on injury risk was assessed for the 6-year-old child, bo th restrained and unrestrained. Results were compared with those for adult occupants in similar crash scena rios. Results: For the unrestrained child passenger, crash simulations pred icted serious head, neck, and chest injuries with air bag activation, regar dless of crash severity. For the restrained child passenger, crash simulati ons predicted similar severe injuries for high-severity crashes only. No se rious injuries were predicted for unrestrained male adults exposed to air b ags or for child passengers restrained in the rear seat for the crash scena rios simulated. Conclusions: Using current crash simulation software, this study demonstrat ed that the risk of air bags to school-aged children could be predicted. Ou r results confirmed the previously identified risks to unrestrained childre n and provided the first evidence that air bags, in their current design, a re not beneficial to restrained children. This study illustrates that compu ter crash simulations should be used proactively to identify injury risks t o child occupants, particularly when limited real-world data are available.