Occupant Neck Injury Assessment Caused by Backward Movement of a Preceding Vehicle at a Low Impact Velocity

This study assesses neck injury of occupants in a real traffic accident case that a preceding vehicle moved backward and impacted a parked vehicle at a low velocity. This case is different from a case of whiplash injury caused by rear impact on vehicle. The impact velocity was estimated from damages of the two vehicle bumpers and the displacement of the parked vehicle was also estimated from CCTV images. MADYMO simulation was performed based on the vehicle specifications and investigation report. The comparison of neck flexion moments with the corresponding injury criteria revealed that occupants of the parked vehicle might have hardly neck injury.