8. Impact on Industry
Currently, occupant risk procedures for longitudinal barrier crash
tests do not include the effects of occupant restraints such as seatbelts
and airbags. The results of this study suggest that these restraints are
effective in reducing occupant injury in collisions with longitudinal
barrier. This study also refutes the perception in the roadside safety
community that airbags rarely deploy in frontal barrier crashes and
need not be turned on in crash tests. Existing longitudinal barrier
occupant risk criteria appear to over-estimate injury potential in
passenger vehicle-barrier crashes for those occupants with any type of
restraint, but especially for those occupants restrained by a seat belt or
restrained by both a seat belt and airbag.