In Japan, bicyclists account for approximately 10% of all the victims killed in traffic accidents annually. This study of bicyclist behavior in a collision with a vehicle observed the following: (1) An analysis of accidents involving bicyclists in Japan revealed that the head was the principle location of fatal injuries, which is the same as for pedestrians. However, a comparison of the numbers of fatal and serious head injuries per 1000 accidents showed that bicyclists sustained fewer such injuries than pedestrians. (2) A MADYMO simulation model of a bicyclist was created using PMHS pedestrian data. In the analysis, special attention was paid to the horizontality of the bicyclist's shoulders, and the validity of this parameter as an index of bicyclist behavior when struck by a vehicle was evaluated. A comparison of the simulation results with the cyclist's PMHS data confirmed the satisfactory kinematics of the model. (3) The simulation results indicate that bicyclist behavior is more complex than that of pedestrians because it varies with the forward inclination of the rider's posture, saddle position and height of the hood leading edge. Under the conditions of this analysis, it was observed that the bicyclist head impact velocity and the impact angle tended to be smaller than the corresponding values of the pedestrian with the same height and weight. (4) Pedestrian head impactors were used in impact tests against the hood to identify the influence of the impact velocity and impact angle reduced the resultant head acceleration level, which is generally used in calculation head injury criteria values. The impact velocity and impact angle of bicyclists tend to decrease compared with those of pedestrians. When the effectiveness of the bicyclists head protection using a pedestrian head impactor is evaluated, the test condition should be changed according to the bicyclists impact behavior.
The behavior of bicyclists in accidents with cars
Verhalten von Radfahrern bei Unfällen mit Personenkraftwagen
JSAE Review ; 21 , 3 ; 357-363
2000
7 Seiten, 15 Bilder, 2 Tabellen, 8 Quellen
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Englisch
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