The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is looking at a new crash test metric which will be able to measure rotational brain injuries.
The metric called the Diffuse Axonal Multi-Axis General Evaluation (DAMAGE) is a rotational head injury metric developed by the University of Virginia and is used in combination with head injury criterion to assess helmet performance in the NFL.
Up until now, we haven’t had a good way to assess the risk of rotational brain injury as part of our crash tests,” said Becky Mueller, Senior Research Engineer, IIHS.
“But thanks to a metric first adopted by the NFL for helmet evaluations, that is set to change.”
The IIHS said it was “currently laying the groundwork” to integrate the metric into its crash test criteria so that its ratings will be able to provide a fuller picture of injury risk.
“This in turn will set the stage for airbag improvements that can reduce the risk of these types of injuries,” added Becky.
The IIHS said although it wasn’t ready to add DAMAGE scores to its crash test ratings, it would be monitoring them. Starting this year, scores will be calculated for all crash tests and the results recorded in IIHS technical reports.
The organization said vehicle manufacturers didn’t need to wait to start looking for ways to prevent the head-whipping motions that DAMAGE reveals.
