Relative Safety Assessment for Positioning Children in Vehicles with Varying Levels of Advanced Safety Technologies

Recent studies suggest that advances in rear seat occupant protection are trailing while frontal crash prevention technologies have disproportionately improved front seat occupant safety. Therefore, the first objective of this study is to identify the safest seat for children by estimating injury se...

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Main Authors: Praveena Penmetsa, Emmanuel K. Adanu, Abhay Lidbe, Xiaobing Li, Shashi Nambisan, Steven L. Jones
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-05-01
Series:Future Transportation
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7590/3/2/36
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author Praveena Penmetsa
Emmanuel K. Adanu
Abhay Lidbe
Xiaobing Li
Shashi Nambisan
Steven L. Jones
author_facet Praveena Penmetsa
Emmanuel K. Adanu
Abhay Lidbe
Xiaobing Li
Shashi Nambisan
Steven L. Jones
author_sort Praveena Penmetsa
collection DOAJ
description Recent studies suggest that advances in rear seat occupant protection are trailing while frontal crash prevention technologies have disproportionately improved front seat occupant safety. Therefore, the first objective of this study is to identify the safest seat for children by estimating injury severity by seat position using current crash data. The second objective of this study is to demonstrate that Level-2 and above (i.e., L2+) AVs will be significantly different from current vehicles regarding child injury severity, and therefore it is essential to find the safest seat for children in L2+ AVs. This study utilized data from the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) to estimate crash injury severity by seat position in children. This study used the Injury Severity Score (ISS) as its measure of crash severity. The mean ISS for restrained children sitting in the front passenger seat was 0.494 (for model year > 2000 vehicles). The mean ISSs for second-row left and second-row right seats were 0.374 and 0.322, respectively. The second-row middle seat had 162, 98, and 71% lower mean ISSs than the front passenger, second-row left, and second-row right seats, respectively. Overall, in both restrained and unrestrained scenarios, the safest seat for a child was the second-row middle seat.
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spelling doaj.art-abc1bf7f9bfb414c8245e89509227f1c2023-11-18T10:30:57ZengMDPI AGFuture Transportation2673-75902023-05-013261562510.3390/futuretransp3020036Relative Safety Assessment for Positioning Children in Vehicles with Varying Levels of Advanced Safety TechnologiesPraveena Penmetsa0Emmanuel K. Adanu1Abhay Lidbe2Xiaobing Li3Shashi Nambisan4Steven L. Jones5Alabama Transportation Policy Research Center, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USAAlabama Transportation Policy Research Center, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USAAlabama Transportation Policy Research Center, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USACenter for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR), University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USATransportation Research Center, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USAAlabama Transportation Policy Research Center, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USARecent studies suggest that advances in rear seat occupant protection are trailing while frontal crash prevention technologies have disproportionately improved front seat occupant safety. Therefore, the first objective of this study is to identify the safest seat for children by estimating injury severity by seat position using current crash data. The second objective of this study is to demonstrate that Level-2 and above (i.e., L2+) AVs will be significantly different from current vehicles regarding child injury severity, and therefore it is essential to find the safest seat for children in L2+ AVs. This study utilized data from the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) to estimate crash injury severity by seat position in children. This study used the Injury Severity Score (ISS) as its measure of crash severity. The mean ISS for restrained children sitting in the front passenger seat was 0.494 (for model year > 2000 vehicles). The mean ISSs for second-row left and second-row right seats were 0.374 and 0.322, respectively. The second-row middle seat had 162, 98, and 71% lower mean ISSs than the front passenger, second-row left, and second-row right seats, respectively. Overall, in both restrained and unrestrained scenarios, the safest seat for a child was the second-row middle seat.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7590/3/2/36childrenautonomous vehicleself-driving vehicleinjury severitycrashessafety
spellingShingle Praveena Penmetsa
Emmanuel K. Adanu
Abhay Lidbe
Xiaobing Li
Shashi Nambisan
Steven L. Jones
Relative Safety Assessment for Positioning Children in Vehicles with Varying Levels of Advanced Safety Technologies
Future Transportation
children
autonomous vehicle
self-driving vehicle
injury severity
crashes
safety
title Relative Safety Assessment for Positioning Children in Vehicles with Varying Levels of Advanced Safety Technologies
title_full Relative Safety Assessment for Positioning Children in Vehicles with Varying Levels of Advanced Safety Technologies
title_fullStr Relative Safety Assessment for Positioning Children in Vehicles with Varying Levels of Advanced Safety Technologies
title_full_unstemmed Relative Safety Assessment for Positioning Children in Vehicles with Varying Levels of Advanced Safety Technologies
title_short Relative Safety Assessment for Positioning Children in Vehicles with Varying Levels of Advanced Safety Technologies
title_sort relative safety assessment for positioning children in vehicles with varying levels of advanced safety technologies
topic children
autonomous vehicle
self-driving vehicle
injury severity
crashes
safety
url https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7590/3/2/36
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