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‘ The industry has even been enthusiastic about our
long-term research, which is not so common in a
world where everyone wants to see results fast.’
single car is produced today without
airbags, curtain airbags or specially
designed seats.
– The whiplash protection that has
been built into all Volvo and Saab cars
since 1997 has reduced the risk of neck
injuries by at least 50 per cent in connection
with serious accidents, he says. This
is the result of many years’ research.
– We have gone all the way from basic
to applied research. The industry has
even been enthusiastic about our longterm
research, which is not so common
in a world where everyone wants to see
results fast.
ADVANCED IMPACT DUMMY
The results of neck injury research
include the development of a very
advanced impact dummy that has been
used in many studies. It can measure
the stress on different joints in connection
with a collision.
The research team has also developed
a mathematical model corresponding
to the female anatomy. The reason for
this is that women are injured more
seriously than men in connection with
rear-end collisions.
– We do not know yet why this is.
There is a theory that it has something
to do with differences in muscle mass
and nerves. We hope that new studies
STUDY QUANTIFIES THE BENEFITS OF NECK INJURY RESEARCH
Vehicle safety research has generated
more than 500 million euro in socioeconomic
benefits in the form of lower
medical costs, reduced loss of income
and less suffering.
VINNOVA (the Swedish Governmental
Agency for Innovation Systems) and its
predecessor have supported neck injury
research at Chalmers University of
Technology ever since 1985. A vehicle
research programme has enabled
researchers to collaborate with Volvo
and Saab and other companies on ways
and means of making vehicles safer.
Needs-based research has given safety
developers in these companies the
knowledge they need to develop new
products. A study has now been made
of the achievements of this research.
– We ourselves were surprised at the
will point us in the right direction, says
Per Lövsund.
– Later on, a completely new dummy
will be built so that we can study angle
collisions from the rear and from the
front.
results. The studies of collisions and
injuries indicated without any doubt that
serious injuries can be reduced by 50
per cent. This is a direct result of measures
taken as a result of the research
done at Chalmers University of Technology,
says Knut Sandberg Eriksen of the
Institute of Transport Economy, Oslo,
one of the authors of the study.
The study, which was carried out in
cooperation with Møre Research in
Molde, Norway, found that this research
benefits society in two different
ways. First, it benefits ordinary citizens
by making vehicles safer in connection
with rear-end collisions. Second, it
benefits Swedish industry by increasing
exports of these products or vehicles
that include them.
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