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New Data Will Keep Pregnant Women Safer While Driving

16 February 1999

New Data Will Keep Pregnant Women Safer While Driving, Say University of Michigan Researchers

    WARRENDALE, Pa., Feb. 16 -- Researchers from the University
of Michigan will report their recommendations on greater safety for pregnant
drivers at the 1999 International SAE Congress & Exposition March 1-4 in the
Cobo Center, Detroit, Michigan.
    The UM researchers will discuss new information they obtained on unbelted
pregnant drivers involved in a frontal crash during their last trimester.
These women will experience direct impact to the uterus by the steering wheel
because, by the ninth month, about one quarter of the uterus lies above the
wheel.
    The University of Michigan researchers conducted the study to obtain more
comprehensive and quantitative data of physical changes occurring in pregnant
women, and the relationship of these changes to vehicle interiors and
restraint systems.  An estimated 1,500 to 5,000 fetal losses occur each year
in the United States as a result of automotive accidents involving pregnant
occupants.
    Kathleen DeSantis Klinich, Lawrence W. Schneider, Jonathan Rupp, Bethany
Eby of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, and Mark
Pearlman, University of Michigan Medical School, summarize their results in
SAE paper 1999-01-0711 "Challenges in Protecting Pregnant Occupants."
    The quartet of researchers recorded physical changes related to
anthropometry and seated posture of 22 volunteer subjects over the course of
their pregnancies.
    In the early 1990s, a first-generation pregnant crash dummy was developed
for sled testing, but results are limited because of omission of injury
criteria and unrealistic abdomen anthropometry.  University of Michigan
researchers found that average abdomen size and shape is significantly
different from that of the first-generation pregnant abdomen.
    Subjects also reported that current seat-belts "ride up and over" the
pregnant abdomen, becoming more horizontal as the occupant's due date
approached, posing possible danger upon frontal impact.  Authors suggest
designing an adjustable lap-belt with anchor points, giving expectant mothers
more seat-belt control.

    The SAE Congress, the world's largest showcase of automotive engineering
technologies, runs March 1-4 and features more than 1,100 exhibiting
companies, including 90 percent of the world's top 25 suppliers.
    For further information, call 1-877-SAE-CONG (723-2664); outside
U.S./Canada, 1-724-772-4027; or visit http://www.sae.org.