Reported September 2008

What Happens During a Crash?: The laws of physics say that an object in motion will stay in motion, with the same speed and direction, unless it is acted upon by an outside force. So if you are traveling at 60 MPH and your car hits a solid wall and comes to an immediate stop, your body will continue going at 60 MPH until it is stopped by a seatbelt, airbag, or, at worst, a windshield. If the car has a rigid body, the rapid deceleration caused by the impact will produce injuries and fatalities. Because the stopping time is only a split second, the force on the passengers is very high.

Why is a New Crash Test Dummy Necessary?: Children ages four through eight often no longer use booster seats, but are many times more likely to sustain abdominal injuries than younger children. Seat belts are not designed for such small frames, and often rest too high on the abdomen, as opposed to along the hips. The new dummies are designed to represent the average six-year-old child, and include an insert that mimics the hip shape of children -- allowing researchers to perform experiments to improve seat belt design.

The American Industrial Hygiene Association, the American Physical Society, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., and the Materials Research Society contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Joan K. Ziemba (PAO)
Director, Virginia Campus Corporate and Community Relations
George Washington University
(703) 726-3651
jziemba@va.gwu.edu

American Industrial Hygiene Association
Melissa Hurley
(703) 846-0740

James Riordon, Media Relations
American Physical Society
(301) 209-3238
http://www.aps.org
riordon@aps.org

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
(310) 394-1811
http://www.hfes.org

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. IEEE-USA
(202) 530-8353
http://www.ieee.org
ieeeusa@ieee.org

Materials Research Society
(724) 779-3003
webmaster@mrs.org