Crash Course in Kinematics

This detailed lecture by Rob Kaufman will examine all the factors associated with occupant kinematics in motor vehicle crashes. How much force and most importantly, the principal direction of force are the main factors associated with the occupant movement and forces distributed against the body. Injuries are a result of the force against our bodies and by examining the skeletal system and fractures one will better understand injury mechanisms in motor vehicle crashes.

We will also look at the new vehicle restraint technologies that are assigned to protect our bodies from the force of a crash, such as side airbags and seatbelt pretensioners that are becoming more common for occupant protection. With the use of MADYMO computer modeling one will better understand the forces acting on unbelted vs. belted occupants. Finally, examining the three factors of rotational forces will assist in determining occupant movements in a motor vehicle crash.

Background
Rob Kaufman is a nationally known federal crash investigator and has been involved with motor vehicle crash research for the past twelve years on various special studies and programs sponsored by U.S. Department of Transportation. Some of the federal programs he has conducted research for include the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS), Pedestrian Crash Data Study (PCDS), and the Speed and Unsafe Driving Action study (SUDA). In 1994, Rob was recognized for his research in NASS and received the National Performance Award.

In the fall of 1996, Rob began working in another federally sponsored program called CIREN (- the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network) out of Harborview's Injury Prevention and Research Center in Seattle. The Seattle CIREN program is one of ten trauma centers nationwide conducting research on real world crashes and occupant injuries. CIREN's goal is to advance all aspects of automotive safety as well as learn more about the prevention and treatment of crash injuries through the collaboration of clinicians, automotive engineers, industry and government.

Through the use of the CIREN data, Rob has created various training programs and presentations to help the medical community better understand crash forces and injury mechanisms. Over the last few years Rob has lectured at over 50-national, state, and local traffic safety, law enforcement, and medical conferences.

Prior to doing crash research, Rob was a transit coach operator for about six years. During this time he became the training and safety supervisor for a three million riders per year transit system at the University of Iowa where he also obtained his degree in Mathematical Sciences.