Researchers Explore Ways to Reduce Road Accidents in India

Researchers at the University of Birmingham and the Indian Institute of Technology (IITD) in Delhi have completed a preliminary simulation study of road accidents in India. Research Fellow Ali Hassan, a crash analyst in the University of Birmingham's School of Civil Engineering is working with Anoop Chawla, of the IITD, on the project. Hassan and Chawla carried out a preliminary simulation study of head injuries to drivers in passenger cars involved in frontal impacts. They are now validating this model by using data from real world passenger car collisions. Road accidents have been the focus of a pioneering research partnership between Birmingham and New Delhi since 2007. Over the past two years, researchers have been exploring biomechanics of road traffic injury - for example, how speed, force and the way people move during an accident affect the outcome. A study to simulate a pedestrian collision with a passenger has also been completed by a post graduate student.