Kinematic Analysis and Head Injury Criterion in a Pedestrian Collision with a Tram at the Speed of 10 and 20 km.h(-1)
Abstract
The issue of accident analysis in relation to railway vehicles of urban mass transportation is highly accentuated at the moment. In terms of designing the frontal area of trams, adequate attention should be paid to the optimal front end design in order to reduce the risk of pedestrian injury.
The properly used shape and materials can minimize the consequences of the pedestrian's contact with the vehicle, or the eventual dragging of the pedestrian under the vehicle. For the front end to be tested and optimized, it is necessary to develop and validate a pedestrian model for performing calculations even in the design preparation stage.
From a historical perspective, impact tests and pedestrian protection were not paid significant attention. There should also be a methodology for data collection and evaluation across the public transit company.
The data collected within the Czech Republic is inconsistent and hard to analyze. At the beginning of our research, we addressed the question of which dummy configuration with respect to the tram is most appropriate for our crash tests.