Abstract
A three year collaborative research program was funded recently by the Australian Research Council in conjunction with the Federal Office of Road Safety, Holden and the Australian Automobile Association to develop a procedure to minimise Harm in vehicle design. The research is being undertaken at the Monash University Accident Research Centre and involves support by the collaborative partners and its associate investigators. Four main study tasks are involved: (i), collection of data for a sample of real world crashes and mass data analysis, (ii), establishment of up-dated Australian injury costs and vehicle occupant Harm, (iii), development of Injury Assessment Functions (IAFs) relating crash test criteria with probability of injury, and (iv), construction of a computer package to optimise design using a Harm outcome measure. The project commenced in January 1998 and work has progressed on a number of the research tasks. It is expected to be of significant benefit to all international car manufacturers and governments in their attempts to improve side impact protection.