NHTSA logo Research and Development
take me to NHTSA web site

Research and Development Project Summaries

Research projects are conducted under an overall plan to meet Agency goals. To enable tracking the status of on-going research projects, summaries are provided here and will be updated quarterly.

The project summaries are being added as they become available and most are expected in the near future. Each summary contains the name of project leader(s) and appropriate e-mail address and/or phone number, if you wish to contact someone for further information. It's planned that at some point the summaries will be searchable.

General questions regarding this page should be directed via Internet e-mail.
CRASH AVOIDANCE
Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Program
Over the past five years a substantial effort has been accomplished to lay the foundation for continuing research and development of collision avoidance systems. Extensive analysis of accident data was performed to define collision problem areas and causal factors. Based upon these, and other considerations such as related human factors research activities, projects were initiated to develop performance specifications for countermeasure systems and progress has been made in the development of new research tools. In the next five-year period NHTSA will continue research to increase the understanding of system performance levels for collision avoidance products and systems; the degree to which these products can be successfully used by drivers, users' perception of usefulness in improving their driving safety; and the potential for market acceptance, considering factors such as performance, usability, and product cost. Finally the overall benefits to be derived from introduction of CA products will be estimated and refined based upon the above factors. Each of the projects in the program provide specific input to improving the overall knowledge base and understanding of systems that address one or more problem areas. The program areas being addressed in the program are:
a image of triangle Intersection Collision Avoidance - June 2000
Intersections are among the most dangerous locations on U.S. roads. Approximately 1.95 million crashes occurred at intersections in 1994 (30 percent of total crashes), causing over 6,700 fatalities and significant numbers of serious injuries. There are more intersection collisions than any other crash type. However, it is also more technically challenging to prevent this type of crash with detection and warning technology than other crash situations. Because of these technical challenges, this is viewed as a longer term program area, but one with potentially large safety benefits.
a image of triangle Rear-End Collision Avoidance - June 2000
a image of triangle Road Departure Collision Avoidance - June 2000
a image of triangle Evaluation of Lane Change Collision Avoidance Using the National Advanced Driving Simulator - February 2002
a image of triangle Lane Change/Merge Collision Avoidance
a image of triangle Drowsy Driver Monitor Collision Avoidance- June 2000
a image of triangle Driver Vision Enhancement
a image of triangle Automated Collision Notification - June 2000
Heavy Vehicle Research
a image of triangle Heavy Truck Occupant Protection - February 2002
a image of triangle Heavy Vehicle Stability Enhancement Systems - June 2000
a image of triangle Heavy Vehicle Stability Enhancement- Phase 2: - June 2000
a image of triangle Truck Aggressivity - updated July 2000
a image of triangle Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (Volvo Trucks N/A) June 2000
a image of triangle Connector Compatibility
Traditional Crash Avoidance
a image of triangle Rollover
a image of triangle Anti-lock Brakes
a image of triangle Lighting
a image of triangle Tires
a image of triangle Visibility
CRASHWORTHINESS
Vehicle Safety
a image of triangle Door Latch Integrity - June 2000
Research program to develop one or more test procedures which evaluate door latch integrity.
a image of triangle Improved Glazing for Reducing Ejection - June 2000
Develop a recommendation regarding agency regulation of occupant retention through side-window glazing, and how best to regulate the industry.
a image of triangle Improved Frontal Crash Protection - June 2000
To mitigate the fatalities and serious injuries which will continue to occur each year even after full implementation of air bags in cars and light trucks and vans.
a image of triangle Upgrade of Rollover Crash Protection - June 2000
Improving crash survivability in rollover crashes by preventing occupant ejection and by mitigating the severity of impacts that an non-ejected occupant experiences during rollover.
a image of triangle Upgrade Fuel System Integrity - June 2000
To provide the technical foundation for an upgrade of existing FMVSS No. 301, Fuel System Integrity.
a image of triangle Upgrade Fuel System Integrity - Alternatively Fueled Vehicles
To insure a minimum level of integrity for the fuel containers and systems of vehicles powered by compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or propane),liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen, and other alternative fuels, excluding electric.
a image of triangle Vehicle Aggressivity and Fleet Compatibility - June 2000
To explore the potential for reducing injuries by eliminating incompatibilities, both structural and geometric, between passenger vehicles and their potential collision partners.
a image of triangle Upgrade Side Crash Protection
To improve occupant protection in side impact crashes for passenger cars and light trucks and vans (LTVs) in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-fixed objects impacts.
a image of triangle Frontal Offset Crash Protection - June 2000
a image of triangle Head Restraints - June 2000
Occupant Protection
a image of triangle Rear Integrated Seat Protection - April 2004
At the current time integrated seats are tested with both FMVSS NoS. 207 and 210 static loads, but a strut is added to support the seat back. This test procedure only tests the seat attachment points to the vehicle and the seat belt anchorage attachment point, but not the seat back itself. A petition was received asking NHTSA to modify the current regulations to incorporate a more realistic test procedure for integrated seats. This document contains the details of the research planned to investigate the need and modifications that may be necessary to address this concern.
a image of triangle Child Safety Rulemaking - FMVSS No. 213 Upgrade - June 2000
To provide support for the potential upgrade of FMVSS No. 213, in an effort to increase safety for children in child restraint systems, thereby reducing the number of children killed or injured in motor vehicle crashes.
a image of triangle Seat Back Strength - June 2000
To provide near term support to the Office of Safety Performance Standards (SPS) for responding to petitions received by the agency regarding seat back strength.
a image of triangle Upgrade Occupant Protection Systems - June 2000
Provide the basis for the development of improved occupant protection devices beyond the scope of those currently used in motor vehicles today.
Other Crashworthiness Issues
triangle NHTSA Event Data Recorder Program - updated August 2002
R&D's recent activity in Event Data Recorders (EDR) Technology started in the late 1990s. This review provides an overview of all the activities NHTSA is following related to EDRs.
a image of triangle Motorcycle Safety - May 2001
To increase understanding of the relationships between deaths and injuries of motorcyclists and others involved in motorcycle crashes and the driver and passenger vehicle/ environment conditions that contribute to these crashes.
a image of triangle Pedestrian & Bicyclist Safety - June 2000
a image of triangle Electric Vehicle Safety - July 2000
Identify compliance problems electric vehicles may encounter with existing crashworthiness standards and to determine potentially unique electric vehicle safety hazards that may require implementation of new standards.
a image of triangle Assess Safety of Automotive Adaptive Equipment - June 2000
Provide a technical foundation for evaluating the functionality and injury potential of equipment installed to make motor vehicles assessable to persons with disabilities, including allowing them to drive
a image of triangle Data Acquisition System Design Maintenance and Improvement
Improve instrumentation and data collection, accuracy, and quality assurance at crash and component test facilities.
a image of triangle Database Design, Maintenance and Improvement - June 2000
To enhance and continue ongoing maintenance of the Vehicle Crash Test, Biomechanics, and Component databases; to provide computational tools necessary to conduct crash, sled, and component test data analyses.
a image of triangle Vehicle Parameter Database - August 2004
Create and maintain a Crashworthiness Vehicle Parameter Database containing necessary data on crashworthiness related technologies, features, and measurements for selected various makes and models currently in the fleet.
a image of triangle Vehicle and Restraint Model Development, Maintenance, and Improvement
To develop, compile, and maintain an inventory of software modeling capabilities for the Office of Crashworthiness Research, NHTSA R&D.
a image of triangle Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles
BIOMECHANICS AND TRAUMA
Injury Studies
a image of triangle Motor Vehicle Impact Injury Mechanisms in Children - June 2000
To assess the performance of the various child restraint systems covered by FMVSSNo. 213 (infant seats, convertible seats and booster seats), vehicle safety belts and passenger side air bags
a image of triangle Injury Causes and Costs of High Speed Car Crashes - June 2000
Identify the patterns and consequences of injuries sustained by restrained occupants (either by seatbelts or airbags) involved in motor vehicle crashes.
a image of triangle The Pattern and Consequences of Injuries Occurring in Collision of Vehicles With Modern Occupant Protection Systems - June 2000
Identify the patterns and consequences of injuries sustained by restrained occupants involved in motor vehicle crashes
a image of triangle International Research Council for the Study of Whiplash Biomechanics - May 1998
Harmonize current research efforts in whiplash injury mechanisms and determine future needs for research within the international biomechanics community
a image of triangle Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) - June 2000 1

right-pointing arrow Crash Injury Research and Engineering Center At Harbourview Injury Prevention and Research Center, Seattle WA
right-pointing arrow Crash Injury Research and Engineering Center at the San Diego Couty Trauma System, San Diego, CA
right-pointing arrow Crash Injury Research and Engineering Center at the University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI
right-pointing arrow Development of the Mercendes Benz CIREN Center at the University of Alabama, Birmingham AL
right-pointing arrow Development of the Ford INOVA Fairfax Hospital CIREN Center, Fairfax VA
a image of triangle Motor Vehicle Impact Injury Mechanisms To Restrained Occupants - June 2000
Anatomic Research
a image of triangle Neck Injury Experimental Research Efforts - June 2000
Conduct experiments on head/neck specimens to determine the mechanical conditions likely to result in injury (see Head/Brain Simulation Efforts)
a image of triangle Analysis of Thoracic Injury Data - June 2000
To assemble existing thoracic injury data from car crash and blast loadings environments and conduct a comprehensive assessment of the nature and threshold thorax impact injury
a image of triangle Side Impact Torso Trauma Research:
     a image of triangle EuroSID Evaluation - June 2000
     a image of triangle Torso Response Requirements - June 2000
a image of triangle Biomechanics of Knee-Thigh-Pelvis Complex Injuries in Frontal Impacts - new for June 2000
a image of triangle Experimental Lower Extremity Injury Research Effort - June 2000
Conduct detailed experimental investigations to obtain data for determining mechanisms of injury and response for lower extremities in automotive crashes.
Simulation and Modeling
a image of triangle Head Injury Criteria Development: Physical and Computational Model Study of Skull Fracture - June 2000
Develop biomechancially-based skull fracture criteria that are applicable to crash environment head impacts.
a image of triangle Head Injury Analysis - June 2000
Develop a finite element process to assess head impact traumatic brain injury in motor vehicle crash situations.
a image of triangle Head Injury Criteria Development: Physical and Computational Model Study of Cavitation
- June 2000
Develop an understanding of the Biomechanics of dilatational brain injury.
a image of triangle Head Injury Criteria Development: Study of Diffuse Brain Injury - June 2000
Develop a criterion for diffuse brain injury and combine with the criteria for other injury modes to provide a unified head injury criterion.
a image of triangle Biofidelity Study of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218 - June 2000
Assess the biofidelity of the FMVSS 218 headforms, test procedures, and pass/fail criteria as a measure of head injury.
a image of triangle Thoracic Injury Criteria Assessment - June 2000
The objective is to assess the validity of current and proposed thoracic injury criteria against a unified set of thoracic response and injury data collected and synthesized under project B.02.01.06.09.
a image of triangle Modeling and Analysis of Impact Thoraco-Abdominal Injury - June 2000
Develop a comprehensive finite element model of the thoraco-abdominal regions including all major internal organs that will serve as a tool for the assessment of organ injury potential
a image of triangle Lower Extremity Research - June 2000
Develop a computational model of the lower extremity region in the human, suitable for the simulation and analysis of ankle impacts occurring in automotive crashes.
Additional Biomechanics Projects
a image of triangle Study of Air Bag Deployment Noise - June 2000
Select and evaluate an impulse noise criterion to be used in the evaluation of impulse hearing loss risk associated with air bag deployment
a image of triangle Air Bag Impulse Noise Modeling - June 2000
Analyze the relation of air bag deployment the generation and propagation of impulse noise that can cause auditory damage and produce a computational methodology for anticipating auditory injury in terms of deployment characteristics.
a image of triangle Study of Air Bag-Occupant Loading - June 2000
Conduct physical experiments that simulate air bag deployment under precisely controlled deployment conditions and measure the resulting load distributions so that the air bag-thorax interaction can be understood phenomenologically and can provide benchmark results for mathematical models.
a image of triangle Maintenance of Biomechanics Data Base - June 2000
To provide analytical and computer services in order to maintain the information contained within the Biomechanics data base.
STATISTICS AND ANALYSIS
a image of triangle Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) - December 1997
This program will link crash, driver, and medical outcome databases to increase their utility, to improve the states' analytical capability and to improve states' highway safety-related databases.
a image of triangle National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) - May 1998
To provide nationally representative data on fatal and nonfatal motor vehicle traffic crashes for use in better understanding the vehicle-trauma experience and to determine the national crash trend experience.
a image of triangle Special Crash Investigations (SCI) - May 1998
To provide the flexibility to acquire detailed engineering information quickly on high visibility traffic crashes of special interest
a image of triangle National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS) - May 1998
To collect detailed information on a national level about shoulder belt, child restraint and motorcycle helmet use.
a image of triangle State Data Program - November 1997
This program seeks to provide the best quality state data for NHTSA analyses examining statistical relationships between vehicle design characteristics, crash involvement, and propensity.
a image of triangle Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) - May 1998
To provide an overall measure of highway safety, to help suggest solutions, and to provide an objective tool to evaluate the effectiveness of vehicle safety standards and highway safety programs.