Side Impact Crashes: Analyzing Vehicle Impact Speed Using Real-World Data

Abstract

Side-impact crashes represent a significant portion of traffic crashes worldwide, often resulting in severe injuries and fatalities. Understanding the dynamics of these collisions, particularly the impact speed of the vehicles involved, is crucial for improving vehicle safety systems and designing effective countermeasures. Additionally, side impact testing for ASEAN NCAP was conducted at a speed of 50 km/h, which is equivalent to Euro NCAP speed testing. This research aims to analyze real-world data collected from side-impact crashes to gain insights into the range of impact speeds and their implications for injury severity. The study utilizes a comprehensive dataset (25 cases) including EDR cases comprising 85 occupants and detailed information from various side impact crash scenarios involving passenger vehicles, including vehicle weight and damage, crash configurations, injury outcomes, and, most importantly, the
outcome of the analysis, which is the impact speeds and crush extent of the vehicle during the crash. By employing advanced statistical (SPSS) and data analysis techniques (AI Damage Software), the key trends and patterns in the data will be identified. These findings shed light on the distribution of impact speeds, crush extent, and their influence on injury severity. From the result, the mean estimated total weight of the striking vehicles involved in side impact crashes is 1,453.08 kg, while the average estimated impact speed of the vehicles involved is 58.96 km/h. Impact speed and occupant exposure were found to be significantly associated with occupant fatalities in side-impact crashes.