Inertial Neck Injuries in Children Involved in Frontal Collisions: Sled Testing Using the 6-Year-Old ATD

Abstract

Sled tests were conducted using a 6-year-old anthropomorphic test device (ATD) to investigate the effect of restraint type and crash severity on the risk of pediatric inertial neck injury. Tests were conducted at three severities, using three restraint configurations: properly restrained, misused restraint, and an age-inappropriate restraint. ATD injury measurements increased with increased crash severity. Head accelerations, head injury criteria, and neck loads, with the exception of neck flexion, were relatively independent of restraint configuration at a given crash severity. The data show that children are at risk of inertial neck injuries at high frontal crash severities.