EU - WHIPLASH 2 - Development of New Design and Test Methods for Whiplash Protection in Vehicle Collisions

Yearly more than one million European citizens suffer neck injuries from car collisions. These injuries often cause long lasting consequences for the individuals. It is expected that whiplash injuries can be reduced significantly by improvements in vehicle design, in particular the seat/head restraint system and the restraint system. As a result of the 4th Framework WHIPLASH project, a test and design method for whiplash protection has been developed, however, this method considers the loading phase of rear-end collisions only. The technical and scientific objective of this new project is to develop evaluation and design methods to minimise the incidence and risk of neck injuries in all important accident conditions and to take the rebound phase of the loading phase also into account. Main innovations in this project include: - implementable design guidelines related to the seat/head restraint system and the restraint system for improved whiplash protection - test methods and a new crash dummy to assess the whiplash protection offered by a vehicle - computer models to support the industrial design process.