The influence of vehicle front-end design on pedestrian ground impact

Accident data have shown that in pedestrian accidents with high-fronted vehicles (SUVs and vans) the risk of pedestrian head injuries from the contact with the ground is higher than with low-fronted vehicles (passenger cars). However, the reasons for this remain poorly understood. This paper addresses this question using multibody modelling to investigate the influence of vehicle front height and shape in pedestrian accidents on the mechanism of impact with the ground and on head ground impact speed. To this end, a set of 648 pedestrian/vehicle crash simulations was carried out using the MADYMO multibody simulation software. Impacts were simulated with six vehicle types at three impact speeds (20, 30, 40 km/h) and three pedestrian types (50th % male, 5th % female, and 6-year-old child) at six different initial stance configurations, stationary and walking at 1.4 m/s. Six different ground impact mechanisms, distinguished from each other by the manner in which the pedestrian impacted the ground, were identified. These configurations have statistically distinct and considerably different distributions of head–ground impact speeds. Pedestrian initial stance configuration (gait and walking speed) introduced a high variability to the head–ground impact speed. Nonetheless, the head–ground impact speed varied significantly between the different ground impact mechanisms identified and the distribution of impact mechanisms was strongly associated with vehicle type. In general, impact mechanisms for adults resulting in a head-first contact with the ground were more severe with high fronted vehicles compared to low fronted vehicles, though there is a speed dependency to these findings. With high fronted vehicles (SUVs and vans) the pedestrian was mainly pushed forward and for children this resulted in high head ground contact speeds.