Thursday, September 20, 2012

There Is No Typical Human


There Is No Typical Human
               When considering injury causation and any subsequent post-traumatic symptoms/disorders, it is imperative for the physician and biomechanist to remember that there is no “typical” human in a crash environment. If anyone has believed that all persons act equally to varying environments, look at prescribed medications and note how many side effects can occur among a population. If people vary in how they react to the same types of chemicals in a specific medication, the same differences between humans in similar types of traumatic events, such as automobile crashes, will occur. There are several reasons why an individual can be different than what is generally representative of a group of subjects involved in a collision, including:
               A) Different weights of humans
               B) Different human anthropometry. Some humans have shorter/longer legs, arms, torso, etc. This can be completely different in children when compared to adults, as well.
               C) Differing heights that may influence the distance between occupant and the interior of the vehicle. For example, a short occupant in a near-sided lateral collision with a SUV would more likely have head injuries than a tall person in the same crash where the rib cage would take the brunt of the injury.
               D) Women have lower center of gravity (cg) than males.
               E) Differing seating locations for occupants
               F) Differing seatback angles for differing occupants
               G) Out-of-position occupants

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