Real-world car-to-pedestrian-crash data from an urban centre

IMPAIR (In-Depth Medical Pedestrian Accident Investigation and Reconstruction) was a prospective, observational study performed in a metropolitan area. Data was collected on-scene, from clinical records, and interviews. Data comprise crash data, details on injury pattern and injury severity.Thirty-seven pedestrians (of which 19 males) with a mean 37.1 years of age were included in the study. The mean collision speed was 49.5 km/h (SD 13.7, range, 28 - 93). The mean ISS (31.0, SD 25.4) and the 24% fatality rate indicate a substantial trauma load. The most common AIS 4+ injuries were to the head (23 subjects), followed by chest (8), pelvis (4), and abdomen (2). An association of impact side and injury side (right/left) was found for abdominal, chest, pelvic, and upper limb injuries. Primary head impacts were documented on the windscreen (19 subjects), hood (10), A-pillar (2), and edge of the car roof (2). With bivariate analysis, a significant increase of MAIS 4+ head injury risk was found for collision speeds of >40 km/h (OR 9.00, 95% CI 1.96-41.36).The real-world data from this study is in agreement with previous findings from biomechanical models and other simulations. This data suggest that there may be reason to include further pedestrian regulations in EuroNCAP.In 2008, 695 pedestrians have been killed and 33 733 injured in Germany [1] as consequence of a road traffic crash (RTC). Previous research reported a high crash and injury risk for pedestrians [2-5]. Pedestrian crashes were found to be associated with high injury severity and mortality when compared to other road users [2,3,6-13].The significant impact of vehicle design on injuries of pedestrians is undoubted [2,11,12,14-17]. Manufacturers recognized safety engineering as an important marketing strategy. In this context, EuroNCAP, a consortium of European agencies, has established test protocols to inform consumers about the experimental safety performance of individual car models in different impact sce