Volvo pregnant crash test 'dummy'

2 July 2002: Volvo has developed a special 'virtual' test dummy which simulates the effects of crash impacts on pregnant passengers. It's the first such model of its kind, with the basic geometry completed in January of this year.
   
This 'virtual' crash dummy is a woman at a late stage of her pregnancy, when the unborn baby is at greatest risk in an accident. At Volvo Cars Safety Centre in Gothenberg, Sweden, Volvo engineers have already begun carrying out simulated front-end impact tests on it, initially to study how the virtual mother-to-be and her unborn baby are affected by the seat belt and airbag in simulated collisions. The computer model makes it possible to study in great detail the influence of belt and airbag on the uterus, placenta, and fetus, and how the fetus moves in relation to the mother's body.

Researchers all agree that pregnant women should always wear their seat belt, but properly, between the breasts and as low as possible over the hips. The lap section of the belt mustn't be allowed to ride up in front of the woman's tummy,

Because the fetus is floating free inside her, injuries tend to fall into two main types, the more common being when the placenta becomes either partially or completely detached, which means that the baby cannot get enough oxygen. The head of the baby can also be injured if it hits one of the bones of the mother's pelvis.

©2002irishcar.com

June 2002