The paper aims to debate on experimental retrieved accelerations from real crash tests, based on different scenarios, to enable assessment on driver potential injury. Scenarios included the presence of passive safety systems (e.g., airbag, seat belt) and test data are being processed to estimate the head injury criteria (HIC) followed by its correlation with abbreviated injury scale values (AIS). A dummy, average male resemblance, was developed in-situ and used in the experimental configuration. Signals were being acquired by few accelerometers disposed on the dummy’s head and thorax using a Pic DAQ system (DSD, Linz, Austria). Data processing and values of injury criteria underline the importance of passive safety systems proven HIC experienced a consistent decrease in the presence of both air-bag and seatbelt.

The biggest problem regarding the safety of occupants during the rear-end collision is the occurrence of “Whiplash” phenomenon, which means that the human head moves backwards in relation to the thorax movement which is in the sitting position. In this case, only the headrest opposes the head movement. An important role in the attenuation of this phenomenon is played by the correct position of the headrest relative to the head position. If the headrest is adjusted correctly, to limit the angle and movement of the head and neck during a rear-end collision, it should reduce the injury risk caused by “Whiplash”, a phenomenon that can cause easy to dangerous injuries. This paper presents a comparative analysis during the rear-end collision between a driver with the headrest adjusted in optimal and wrong position. The analysis is based on the front quarter driver side of body car, using an anthropomorphic dummy. The quarter of car was positioned on a sledge that was located on the test stand. The data acquired during the tests were processed in order to evaluate the most common injury criteria, called HIC (Head Injury Criteria).