Rollovers and Neck Injuries

In roughly the last decade there has been an explosion of research related to rollovers. A search of the SAE Safety Series alone demonstrates fewer than a half-dozen articles per year from 1979 until 1997, with an average of roughly 1 to 2 articles per year. From 1998 to present there have between 8 and 20 articles per year with an average of 12 articles per year. It should come as no surprise that much of the research was spurred on by Notices of Proposed Rulemaking regarding rollovers published by the NHTSA in the mid-90?s. Regardless of how one feels about the eventual outcomes of the NHTSA?s rulemaking process, as a community of researchers we can all attest to the fact that our understanding of rollovers has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade. In this address I hope to synthesize, in a meaningful way, the history of rollover research, its present state, and what I believe the future holds. The focus of this address will necessarily center on accident reconstruction and injury analysis.

Presenter
Jarrod Carter, Origin Engineering