Concept Development of the Novel Pre Rear-End Positioning and Risk Extenuation System (PREPARES)

Rear-end collisions account for a significant portion of crashes each year and result in many soft tissue injuries. Several active vehicle safety systems have been developed to prevent rear-end collisions from the perspective of the striking vehicle, but at this time, there are limited vehicle systems designed to improve the safety of occupants in the struck vehicle in the case of an imminent collision. To address this shortcoming, the Pre Rear-End Positioning and Risk Extenuation System (PREPARES) was conceptualized, prototyped, and evaluated. Similar to current in-vehicle warnings, PREPARES was designed to elicit a response from drivers using salient and unexpected auditory and/or visual cues. However, unlike most warnings that inform or direct drivers’ attention toward a potential threat exterior to the vehicle, PREPARES attempts to direct drivers’ attention to a specific location inside the vehicle that consequently causes the driver to adjust their seating posture. This reactionary motion aims to recover the normal seated position within the seconds prior to impact, thus improving pre-crash positioning and potentially reducing the risk and severity of injuries. During this focused research effort, a proof-of-concept was obtained through human subject testing, which indicated that PREPARES improves driver pre-crash position. These initial results suggest that PREPARES is a potential strategy for mitigating injuries that warrants additional research and development.