Forensic

Accident reconstruction Engineering

International

Judgment of low speed neck injuries out of a technical view

1 General remarks

Neck injuries are put forward by vehicle occupants in different types of accidents. Technical
judgment are often neccessary in the forensic practice with following accident types:
Rear end collision, frontal collision, side collision, impact on solid obstacles,
braking and other accident avoidance manoeuvers.
Whether, out of a technical view, a neck injury is explicable or not, is at present determined on
certain values of change of velocity and mean acceleration (deceleration) of the vehicle, in
which the person sits who claims pain or injuries. In cases of a linear or one-dimensional
collision it is possible to use the calculated values of velocity and acceleration of the center of
gravity.
the These evaluation sizes are sufficient if one central push or one virtually central push are
available because the values calculated for it also are applicable to the passengers in
approximately. At eccentric pushes, the speed alteration and the middle acceleration must be
calculated for the passenger what is unequally more complicated.
Decided physical sizes, that are expounded subsequently, occur with these calculations:
Name Formula Explanation
signs
Pre crash velocities, A vehicle can come before the collision and the other drives, however, it can
be also both in trip. For the calculation, also the directions play a role, under
translatorisch (v) v, which the vehicles approach. Vehicles can also skid before the collision.
und rotatorisch ()
Post crash After the collision, both vehicles have speeds, that differ from the collision
velocities, speeds. The absolute speed of a certain place of the vehicle calculates from
v, superimposition of translational and rotational speed.
translatorisch und
rotatorisch
Change of velocity The speed alteration describes the difference of the absolute speed of an any
point of the vehicle before and after the collision.
v
Energie Equivalent With the EES-values, the size of the distortion of the vehicles, therefore the
Speed damage scope, is described. Physically, the one key item is looked at for the
EES distortion work or - energy.
Separating velocity Before the collision, the places, at which the vehicles collide, approach itself
each other, after the collision, these places separate with a certain speed, for
vB which is called separation speed.
Mean acceleration / The speed alteration of Dv can be calculated, as well the collision duration
decelaration Dt. The collision duration is known also from attempts, depends however
am = v/t strongly from the accident type. From him/it quotient Dv/Dt calculates the
middle acceleration or postponement for itself.

2 Kinds of accidents

Rear end collisions

If one looks at the following picture (rear end collision), becomes clear so, that the passengers
depend the burden in the pushed vehicle among others on the structure stiff ness of the
1
 Forensic
Accident reconstruction Engineering
International

bodyworks of both vehicles. The vehicle distortions, that are described as EES-Werte, turn into
the speeds of the vehicles before the collision, that calculates duration of the push and the
middle acceleration / deceleration. The general connection is it for "force = mass *
acceleration."
By the timewise variable strength in the contact zone of the vehicles, the fore vehicle is
accelerated. The passenger situated on the seat becomes mitbeschleu-nigt/mitgenommen
over the back rest and the friction strength on the cushion. the back rest has special qualities,
that can be described mathematically these qualities by a feather with even. The quality of the
back rest has significant influence on the temporal course of the acceleration working on
passengers. Each vehicle seat has different qualities, that one can determine through
measurement of the force-versus crush relation.

The upper body movement is transferred on the head over the neck spinal column and the
neck muscles. A lateralen postponement of the fuss bodies of the HWS first occurs on that
occasion, that is to a postponement (= Scherung, between upper bodies and head axis. A
rotation of the head with inflection of the HWS happens after it, then, an impact of the head
possibly takes place against the headrest.
The process is measuring-technically grasped from several authors and to been held on with
high-speed cameras. The taking second place picture shows a passenger's movement with a
speed alteration of 7,8 km of hour in significant time steps with an attempt. he/it is the literature
place in /3 / taken.
One sees quite well from this picture that the head lies flat exactly on the headrest with 120 m
and the rotation of the head, at what the headrest (which often is the case in the practice,
however,) sits much too deep here, starts only after it. after is 120 m reached the maximum of
the upper body acceleration already or crossed.

2
 Forensic
Accident reconstruction Engineering
International

At heavy accidents with speed alterations of more than 25 km per hour and middle
Beschleunigungen/Verzgerungen, over 10 g play the Hyperextension of the neck and the
high chute at the back rest a significant role. In these cases, the position and the solidity of the
back rest as well as the order and formation of the headrest have a significant influence.
At the accidents in the low speed area with speed alterations, under 25 km per hour play the
hardness and duration of the push a big role. This push duration depends primarily on the
beteilgten vehicles (for example Anhngekupplung ja/nein) and the hardness of the seat back
rest of the structure solidity. The more roughly the vehicle structures are, the shorter the push
duration becomes and umso bigger becomes the middle acceleration. The strengths working
in the endangered area of the HWS are umso bigger the bigger the acceleration difference
between upper bodies and head is. The HWS-Verletzung already happened here before the
head reached the headrest.
The mechanism described for the Auffahrunfall is not applicable to other accident types.
There, there are partially essentially more complex connections, that can be described in one
leaflet no more. Fundamental information is to be found on our internet sides of www.ibb-
forensic.de.

On rear end or frontal collisions, there are also injuries of the neck of passengers in the
decelerated vehicle. A more favorable movement course and an in principle more inferior neck
load submit to reference to the neck on that occasion in principle as at stern collisions. At the
frontal impact, the passenger's progressive relative movement is essentially caught by the
belts. The indirect strength prelude to the neck spinal column over the thorax and the easy
body rotation from the shoulder belt yields, with otherwise, vehicle burdens resemble, a
movement course, that is interconnected with more inferior burdens of the individual neck
bones. Moreover, the rear neck musculature, which can protect the head from too big forward
movement, is essentially more strongly trained as the fore neck muscles. The harmlessness
area for not insignificant neck injuries after frontal collisions lies in an area of the collision-
conditional speed alteration of the delayed vehicle of for example the double value of the one
3
 Forensic
Accident reconstruction Engineering
International

one in the "normal case" with application of safety belts at stern collisions, 10-15 km per hour,
therefore with 20 - 30 km per hour. "normal case" is called that that the biomechanic must
correspond to the one situation relevant situation of a passenger "they at the scientific
investigation of this area had been available. This essentially is called that the concerned
person cannot be older than approximately 50/55 years, be more than insignificant diseased or
traumatically conditional changes available in the neck spinal column area none, and on the
occasion of the collision no relatively body position of the vehicle interior which an additional
burden could have yielded was available. Alternatively, the harmlessness border also possibly
is below, to begin from 20 km per hour. Vice-versa, circumstances could, that reduce the
biomechanic risk, as for example an especially robust constitution and/or specifically security
elements like an air bag, the harmlessness border upward postpones. Biomechanic
considerations should be performed in the individual case not without medical education. If
necessary, interdisziplinar certificates are necessary.

Side collisions

Heeding is that they confessed for rear end and are not applicable to the admission of a neck
injury in many judgments of utilized borders for lateral collisions. At lateral collisions, neck
injuries, especially on the push-turned side, can happen earlier than with rear end collisions.
This lies at the very complex construction of the neck spinal column.
The movements of driver and passengers are in the two taking second place picture series to
be seen against the left side of the attempt vehicle during two stripe collisions in pointed
corner. It is about two of our attempts to the comparison of the extend of the passenger
movement. The speed alteration of lateral direction is approximately 3 km per hour in the first
case, in the second case approximately 9 km per hour.

The driver's movement is one in the upper picture series to be seen in each case, in which
sees low, the passenger's movement. With the driver, the attack of the shoulder against the
driver door can occur, the head induces further and can come in touch, that is possibly
destroyed on that occasion, with the side disk if necessary. In the above shown attempt, no
trouble of the passengers was reported.
4
 Forensic
Accident reconstruction Engineering
International

With the second attempt, 9 km per hour cross speed alteration, the driver didn't have any
trouble, the unprepared passenger got headaches and 3 days long neck injuries..

3 Load limits
The mechanisms, that lead to the HWS-Beschwerden or Neck injuries, have not been cleared
up reliably at present still long ago. Not even with him/it at the the most simply to view
Auffahrunfall, it is quite clear as the trouble occurs. At the moment, the opinion predominates
that shock waves in the blood vessels and in the spinal cord liquid the smallest, until now
through diagnosis appliances not verifiable injuries generates. It is also a limit, been proposed
Injury Criterion NIC, over whose height and calculation manner disagreement still exists,
however, tease.
Comes to it that examinations of Castro et al. it showed that even people, whom one had
faked an Auffahrunfall only through corresponding sounds and Rollbewegung of a vehicle
without collision, complained over trouble. It was inferred from that alone, already
psychosomatic reactions can lead to HWS-Beschwerden. From the manual medicine, it is
known that a "wrong" movement is enough in the daily life to generate HWS-Beschwerden.
Another difficulty is she/it that the previous examinations of a "normal" head attitude went out.
Nobody knows, which happens, if a passenger turned by 70 degrees to the side the head, for
example, as the Auffahrunfall occurred.
In spite of all that it cannot be in a way that one therefore leaves the previous results of
examination unheeded and waits for further scientific results. This something today known is,
admits statements with high likelihood. If then, it possibly comes can deliver a medical
certificate another result to the statement, that not explaining a HWS-Verletzung from technical
view is, as well.
At meaningful burden borders, below derer at European vehicles Neck injuries from technical
view no more can be explained, became for: normal seat attitude, normal body constitution, no
diseased changes, following defines

5
 Forensic
Accident reconstruction Engineering
International

Change of velocity Mean acceleration

Rear end Neck injury below 11 km/h not explicable, 30 m/s bzw. 3 g
collision
Limit for harmless 10 km/h
Front collision 20 km/h 50 m/s bzw. 5 g
Side collision Lateral mobility of the HWS is the lowest. An immediate
contact between shoulder of the passenger and door of
the vehicle, hard push, usually occurs. Head impact at Until now
push-turned side already with 5 km per hour, at nothing defined
stoabgewandter side tests, whether Rckschwingen can
take place

Weiterfhrende Literatur (Auszug):

/1/ Walz, F.: Biomechanische Aspekte der Neck injuries, Orthopde (1994) 23, 262-267
/2/ Gratzer, W. und Burg, H.: Analyse von Serienkollisionen und Berechnung der Insas-
senbeschleunigung im gestoenen Fahrzeug, Verkehrsunfall und Fahrzeugtechnik, 1994, Heft 4 ff.
/3/ Whitman, E. et al: Analysis of Human Test Subject Kinematic Response to Low Velocity Rear End
Impact. SAE SP-975, 1993
/4/ Moorahrend, U.: Die Beschleunigungsverletzung der Halswirbelsule. Gustav Fischer Verlag,
1993.
/5/ Kallieris, Rizzetti, Mattern, Thunnissen, Philippens: Cervical Human Spine Loads During
Traumatomechanical Investigations. IRCOBI Proceedings 1996.
/6/ Scientific Monograph of the Quebeck Task Force on Whiplash-Associated Disorders. International
Journal for the Study of the Spine, 15. April 1995.

/7/ Das Schleudertrauma der Halswirbelsule. Castro, Kgelgen, Ludolph, Schrter. Ferdinand Enke
Verlag Stuttgart 1998.
/8/ Bostrm et al: A Sled test Procedure Proposal to Evaluate the Risk of Neck Injury in Low Speed
Rear Impacts using a new Neck Injury Criterion (NIC), Chalmers University Sweden, Paper Nr. 98-
S7-O-07.
/9/ Krafft, M. Folksam Research: A Comparison of Short- and Long-Term Consequences of AIS 1
Neck Injuries in Rear Impacts. July 1998.
/10/ Becke, Castro, Hein, Schimmelpfennig: HWS-Schleudertrauma 2000 Standortbestimmung und
Vorausblick. NZV 2000, Heft 6.

6
 Forensic
Accident reconstruction Engineering
International

4 Severity degrees of the neck injuries and statistical results

In the literature place /4 / is done to the weight degree of Neck injuries implementations. This
ranking is applied primarily interdisciplinary in the medical school. Since such rankings often
are performed in medical certificates and should find consideration with the technical
examination, they are presented in a table:
Schweregrad
I Pain symptomatic not over 72 to 96 h. No ascertainable changes, to cover
through diagnostic procedures.
II Symptom duration of 3 weeks after the accident. Objective observation of the
muscular strength and pain release under physiotherapy.
III Radiologic objectable faulty position until of the size of a reversible
subluxation of a movement segment with or without neurological
disturbances.
IV a Luxation or luxation fractur of the cv, combines with neurological
disturbances if necessary.
IV b Deadly whip lash.

In /4 are located furthermore / Beschwerden/Symptome, that is told about the concerned

people with Neck injuries, as well as observing at them are, descending sequence,:
A physical trouble A psychic trouble
Movement restriction of the head Nervousness / unrest
Cephalgie (headaches) Abnormal tiredness
Neck pains Early dawn because of pains
Shoulder pains Constant sleeping problems
Frauds Internally eagerly and restlessly
Parsthesien (insensibility) Insomnias through pains
Film speed In sleep difficulties
Daze Social retreat
Visibility problems Less initiative
Oppression feelings of the breast Sadness during the day
Hearing disturbances Anxiously jumpy
Cycle disturbances Mental weight
Noise sensitivity Sudden wines
Heat sensitivity Fail fears
Gulp trouble Physical weight
Nausea Suicide thoughts feeling of inferiorities

Over the duration of neck injuries, the literature place gives /6 / information. Ausheilungen
partially last until one year. There is a dependence on the age, sees taking second place

7
 Forensic
Accident reconstruction Engineering
International

picture, and also from the sex. More final is to be heeded also with the examination, women
usually have longer necks and weaker neck muscles than men, for example.

From the literature place /9 / follows, that the risk of Neck injuries is 2,7-fold higher than at
older vehicles at vehicles, that were built from approximately 1990, because of stiffer seat back
rests. Furthermore it was determined among others there that a 22 percent higher risk is
available for Neck injuries at vehicles, that have a supporter clutch.

2004, March