Evaluation of the Crush Protection Zone of Three CrushProtection Devices

摘要

ATV accidents are the second most common injury source in US agriculture. The rollover accident is the leading cause of death in agricultural ATV accidents. A properly designed and installed Crush Protection Device (CPD) can potentially decrease the operator's injuries in the rollover accident. A CPD is a passive control that is independent of the action of the potential injury victim and protects the operator by providing a crush protection zone (CPZ) under the overturned vehicle.No study has measured the volume of CPZ for different designs of ATV and CPD. In this study, the shape and volume of rear and side CPZ of three designs of CPD (Quadbar, Lifeguard, and Air-Quad) installed on 13 models of ATV were measured.Results of this study showed that the installation of a CPD protects operator by increasing the CPZ volume compared to the baseline ATV in the event of a rollover accident. The AIR-Quad, Quadbar, and Lifeguard increase the rear CPZ volume with an averageof 0.48 m3 (111% increase), 0.39 m3 (92% increase), and 0.15 m3 (35% increase), respectively, compared to the average CPZ of a baseline ATV which is 0.44 m3. Also, a CPD protects the operator by increasing the distance between the seat reference point and the ground surface, during a rollover accident.