Motorcycles are by far the most dangerous means of transport, and according to the CARE database, in 2008,
5,126 fatalities among motorcyclists (EU-24), accounted for 14% of the total 37,234 road traffic fatalities in these
24 Member States. Taking into account the fact that two-wheeled motor vehicles account for just 2% of all road
vehicles, this underlines the potential risk for motorcyclists on Europe’s roads. The number of motorcycles is
increasing every year in the European Union; between 2001 and 2008 the number increased from 16 million to more
than 22 million (ACEM, 2011). In 2008, approximately 33 million powered two-wheeled motor vehicles (PTW’s)
were registered (CARE, 2008).
In the first phase of the KID-SHELL project, an in-depth analysis of PTW accidents involving passengers
between 6 and 13 years old and the body safety protection regulations was carried out (Boix et al, 2014). A study in
the city of Barcelona was carried out, and showed that the most usual and severe accident configurations for
motorcyclists were accidents with frontal collision, off-road accidents, lateral collision, accident with an obstacle,
rear-end collision and accident by lateral scraping. Although most of the accidents were slight, the most common
injuries were contusions and fractures and the most damaged areas were the extremities and the head.
Additionally, people who want to transport children between these ages by motorcycle cannot easily find
protective clothing on the market and assume risks such as equipping the child with a wrongly-sized helmet, rarely
incorporating any additional safety clothing such as protective gloves or a jacket. Moreover, safety clothes for
children are not usually used because of their cost and the fact that children quickly grow too big for them. The
KID-SHELL protection system that has been designed offers an effective solution by protecting the child’s back in
case of falling from the motorcycle or accident.
This paper describes the second part of the project which defines the simulation of the child protection system.
The development of an assessment protocol for child back protection is also explained. The aim is also to evaluate
the level of safety of the KID-SHELL protector and at the same time be able to reproduce the real case scenarios
where the KID-SHELL may be involved.