Toyota Honored for Research on Head Trauma

2011-12-07

Automaker’s safety center studying ways to reduce injuries

Toyota Motor Corp. and two of its research partners were recognized Monday by the Brain Trauma Foundation for their studies on head injuries that occur in car crashes as well as on the football field.
As part of the effort funded by Toyota, researchers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Wake Forest School of Medicine collected data from accelerometers attached to the helmets of football players that led to the first safety ratings for helmets.
Toyota also is using data from the research to improve its virtual human crash-test dummies and to develop safety technologies aimed at reducing head injuries.
"By understanding the mechanics of brain injuries, we can develop better restraint systems and parts of the (vehicles) interior that the head might strike," said Chuck Gulash, senior executive engineer at the Toyota Technical Center.
Gulash also heads the Toyota Collaborative Safety Research Center, which was established at the start of the year with $50 million in funding. Located at the technical center, the safety research center works on projects with U.S. universities, government agencies, hospitals and other institutions.
Toyota announced four new projects Tuesday to study such issues as the correlation between the age of vehicle occupants and certain kinds of injuries, and ways to improve test dummies. Its research partners include Virginia Tech, the University of Iowa and George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Two of the new projects focus on developing more sophisticated crash-modeling technologies, and one will study how drivers use their feet.
Another project, based on research in Japan that found a high rate of abdominal injuries for older drivers involved in accidents, will study the relationship between such injuries and age in the United States.
The research could lead to improved safety restraints, which will prove increasingly important given predictions that the percentage of the U.S. population over the age of 65 will almost double by 2040, Toyota said. It is working on this project with Virginia Tech.
Toyota has announced 17 research projects with 12 institutions since establishing the safety research center in January.

CHRISTINE TIERNEY
/ Detroit News Washington Bureau