Autoliv Assists Volvo to Be Top-Rated for Whiplash Protection

Whiplash injuries resulting from rear-end crashes are the most common disabling injury in cars. Prevention of this kind of injury is very important and therefore Euro NCAP has recently introduced a new whiplash test. Volvo's XC60 seat set the benchmark at the official launch of this new whiplash test by obtaining 3.54 points out of a possible 4. This was the highest score of the 25 seats tested. The excellent performance was due to the second generation of Autoliv's Whip-R solution, introduced in the Volvo S80 almost ten years ago.

During the 70s, conventional headrests were introduced. The protective effects of these devices have been found to be small, 5-10%. In modern cars there are three different solutions to mitigate whiplash injuries of which the best systems can reduce injuries by 50%. The first solution is the re-active head restraint. The principle is to reduce the backset (i.e. distance from the back of the head to the head restraint) using the passenger's upper-body rearward motion. A more expensive solution is a pro-active head restraint, where its forward motion is triggered by rear-crash detection. The third solution is a seat that uses inertia forces where the seat geometry and the energy absorption management have been optimized. Autoliv's solution in the Volvo XC60 is based on this re-active seat concept.

Autoliv's Whip-R solution

The Whip-R solution uses the body rearward motion to tilt the seat back in order to optimize the full head and body support.

Once this is established the mechanism allows controlled yielding of the seat- back to absorb the crash energy.

Euro NCAP's whiplash test Euro NCAP's whiplash test protocol consists of both static and dynamic tests. The static tests look at important seat dimensions such as the height of the headrest. The dynamic tests consist of three sled tests at different crash pulses. To measure the whiplash injury criteria, the test dummy (a Biofidelic Rear Impact Dummy - BioRID-2) has a specially designed spinal column that consist of 24 "vertebrae", just as human beings.

Next year, Euro NCAP will change its overall crash-test rating system and whiplash protection will become part of the Euro NCAP's "five star" rating system. Whiplash protection will contribute 4 points to the system's total of 36 points for the adult occupant protection.

Autoliv Inc., the worldwide leader in automotive safety systems, develops and manufactures automotive safety systems for all major automotive manufacturers in the world. Together with its joint ventures, Autoliv has more than 80 facilities with approximately 43,000 employees in 32 vehicle-producing countries. In addition, the Company has technical centers in eleven countries around the world, with 21 test tracks, more than any other automotive safety supplier. Sales in 2007 amounted to US $6.8 billion. The Company's shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:ALV) and its Swedish Depository Receipts on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm (ALIVsdb).

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Autoliv Assists Volvo to Be Top-Rated for Whiplash Protection