Rear Impact Danger: Warning – Auto Passengers & Driver Beware!

By Arthur W Hoffmann EngD

Automotive rear impacts are the most common type of car accident, with 2.5 million occuring each year. Most often, the vehicle property damage is minor with no occupant injury. However, more serious rear-end collisions can result in life-changing events. There are two major injury types caused by rear impact accidents. Whiplash (non-lethal injury) and Seat-Collapse (potential serious or lethal injury). Driver and front passenger seats all too often fail, with the seatback collapsing, ejecting the occupants rearward into the rear seat area with serious consequences. Seat design strength requiements are covered by FMVSS 207 Seat Systems Standard. The auto companies rely on this standard to test their seatsdard. The FMVSS 207 standard for seatback strength is flawed auto compaies use this requirement to allow the seatback to deform during a serious rear-impact, to achive enery-management.
The controversy over seatback strength, Rigid verus Yielding, continues today. An occupied front seat that collapses during a rear-impact can entrap rear seat occupants, especially children that are required to sit in the rear row seats. Safety advocates and researchers report that for the period 1990 to 2014 nearly 900 children seated behind a front-seated occupant or in a center rear seat died in rear impacts of 1990 and later model-year cars. Law suites are prevalent and multi-million dollar penalties or settlements resulted and litigation continue today. Rear-end crashes also involve vehicle occupants in other automotive design hazards. Use of Child Restraints (CRS) is essentaial.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Apr 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781663200167

Arthur W Hoffmann EngD

Arthur W. Hoffmann, Ed.D., P.E. is a registered Professional Engineer who was engaged in the development of automotive design and safety standards since the early 1960’s. Doctor Hoffmann developed the first Child Safety Seat for General Motors, which was marketed as the “GM Love Seat”. President of Seat Consultants, LLC, an automotive safety group . The author holds several U.S automotive patents. Art and Carolyn reside in Traverse City, Michigan.

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Copyright © 2020 Arthur W. Hoffmann, Ed.D., P.E..

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-6632-0015-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-0016-7 (e)

iUniverse rev. date:   04/30/2020

This book is

dedicated in honor of my Parents to whom I owe unending gratitude for the values they stood for, practiced and instilled in our family.

I also wish to thank my son, Art, Jr and Elaine for their help, support and proof-reading.

This dedication would not be complete without recognizing Carolyn, my wife, companion and friend for her support.

CONTENTS

I    INTRODUCTION

II    AUTOMOTIVE SAFETY BACKGROUND AND HISTORY

III    FMVSS 207 – SEATING SYSTEMS

IV    REAR-IMPACT CONSEQUENCES

V    RIGID VERSUS YIELDING SEATBACK STRUCTURE

VI    SEAT STRENGTH RESEARCH

VII    FRONT SEAT OCCUPANT POSITION

VIII    ADJUSTABLE SEAT SYSTEMS

IX    TESTING PROTOCOL AND CERTIFICATION

X    OTHER REAR IMPACT DANGER – THIRD-ROW SEATING

XI    PUBLIC SAFETY INFORMATION

XII    OCCUPANT POSITIONING

REFERENCES

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITION OF AUTOMOTIVE REAR IMPACT

The collision of two or more vehicles engaged in contact, with the rear-most vehicle (bullet) impacting, the foremost (target) vehicle(s) at a closing speed (acceleration) that results in damage (and/or) injury to occupants of all engaged vehicles.

Automotive rear impacts are the most common type of car accident, with 2.5 million occurring each year. Most often, the vehicle property damage is minor with no occupant injury. Essentially, the impact is considered as bumper-to-bumper; the occupants of each involved vehicle are alerted by the jolt of the collision. However, more serious rear impact accidents can result in life-changing