Title: Data and Methods for Estimating the Severity of Minor Impacts
text: Front, rear, lateral and side-swipe collisions were staged to correlate passenger vehicle damage to motion. Data from the staged collisions are used to develop severity-prediction methods for the four collision types. Human volunteers were present in many of the vehicles tested. Their responses, and the responses of human volunteers to staged impacts in other studies, are discussed in terms of impact severity. For front and rear impacts, data are presented that correlate the post-impact condition of bumper systems to impact severity. These data build on data previously presented1,2,3. A method for computing velocity change (ΔV) for vehicle to vehicle collisions from vehicle to barrier data is presented. Data from staged low-speed lateral collisions correlate target and bullet vehicle damage to linear and angular velocity change (ΔV, Δω), impact location, pavement friction and collision force. It is shown how momentum, energy and restitution principles can be used to predict ΔV and Δω from damage. For staged side-swipe collisions, damage details are correlated to the target vehicle acceleration-time history. The vehicle motion is characterized as a vibration dose.