Better human models could lead to safer cars

In a recent column questioning the advisability of the federal government forcing three automakers to raise the mpg standards, it was stated this action would result in 2,500 more highway fatalities because the American public would be forced to purchase smaller cars.

The Wall Street Journal has set the figure at 3,200 additional deaths. That is every year, remember. An additional warning was just released in a study involving 200 makes of cars and light trucks in which it was found "heavier vehicles still tend to have lower death rates." The laws of physics still apply.

Over the years this column has applauded the efforts of the car manufacturers in building safer vehicles. Much of the safety advancements can be attributed to crash "dummies." Despite the progress and all the research that goes into building safer vehicles and for all the achievements that have saved untold lives and allowed people to walk away from violent collisions, safety experts still know little about what happens inside the human body when a car hits a tree at 40 mph.

Justin Hyde of the Detroit Free Press reports that, "Those mysteries have driven nine of the world's largest automakers to launch an audacious plan developing the most detailed computer model of the human body ever attempted. The results could lead to safer vehicles at less expense."

According to writer Hyde, the computer models envisioned by the Global Human Body Models Consortium would be up to 10 times more detailed than those available today, with the capability of predicting how organs and soft tissue absorb the crushing force of a car crash.

The consortium was formed last April after carmakers decided to pool their resources. "In addition to the automakers — GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Renault, Hyundai and Peugeot-Citroen — the group includes two parts suppliers, TRW and Takata," Hyde writes.

"The project envisions spending several years to build a family of virtual humans, from children to grandparents, in all sizes." Saeed Barbat, manager of Ford Motor Co.'s passive safety research and advanced engineering, said the human models could be used to set new safety standards and solve problems such as low-speed crashes that cause brain damage or injuries to the smallest passengers. "A lot of children's injuries can't be predicted by any dummy. A model like this might be able to give you that information."

Today's models offer only estimates — the chance of a severe injury, for example — with many gaps. Reporter Hyde explains that "such models are essentially connect-the-dot pictures, where computers track each dot's position, chemical makeup and reaction to force based on years of research. The most advanced human models in use today have up to 120,000 dots, or finite elements; the consortium expects its full-body model will require up to 3 million dots."

George Spaulding is a retired General Motors executive and distinguished executive-in-residence emeritus at the School of Business and Economics at the College of Charleston.