S. C. Wang (E-mail: stewartw@umich.edu, (734)936-5738), E. Brown, K. Cunningham, S. R. Horbal, A Rammelkamp, R. Kaufman, C. Kohoyda-Inglis, E.H. Trager, C. Kohoyda-Inglis, S. Holcombe, S. Ejima all work at the University of Michigan, International Center for Automotive Medicine. F. Roth and A. Schneider work at Audi AG, Global Safety Affairs. J. Joyner works at General Motors, Global Vehicle Safety. B. Mueller works at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Nick Ables works at Hyundai Mostor Group. Timothy Keon works for the Subaru Corporation. Abstract Several efforts to mitigate vulnerable road user (VRU) injury in motor vehicle crashes are ongoing. VRU head injuries are among the most common and severe. Descriptive findings from the Vulnerable Road User Injury Prevention Alliance’s current research efforts are reported in this study. Results include relational graphics of impact locations on vehicles with isometric and wrap documentations, strike density, impact speeds and kinematic patterns. The distribution maps of VRU-vehicle impact zones show that the most common contact occurred on the front right corner area of the vehicles for those that sustained a head injury. The forward projection trajectory type occurred at lower impact speeds with multipurpose vehicles (MPVs) and trucks, while wrap trajectories and roof vaults occurred at higher relative speeds. A higher proportion of VRU head/face contacts occurred beyond the hood surface (i.e. cowl, windshield) in passenger cars (84%) when compared to MPVs (44%) and trucks (50%). This analysis of pedestrian head/face strike locations on vehicles is the most current real-time surveillance of VRU crashes in the United States. Keywords VIPA, Vulnerable Road Users, Pedestrian Safety, Head Injuries, Surveillance I. INTRODUCTION While vehicle occupant death rates in roadway crashes have been generally decreasing, vulnerable road user (VRU) death rates from roadway crashes have been increasing in the US [1]. Automotive safety efforts have focused on reducing injury risk for vehicle occupants, but the ability to mitigate pedestrian and bicyclist injury has recently gained interest [2,3]. Multiple efforts to promote avoidance of such crashes are currently being undertaken by automotive manufacturers and consumer metric organisations to prioritize the reduction of VRU injury risk and mortality rates The Vulnerable Road User Injury Prevention Alliance (VIPA) is a consortium developed by the International Center for Automotive Medicine (ICAM) at the University of Michigan. Among VIPA’s goals are to conduct real- time surveillance of VRU-motor vehicle crashes (VRU-MVCs) and to collect high-dimensional descriptive surveillance data. VIPA’s partners include car manufacturers, state agencies, police departments and medical centres. VRU injuries that occur to the head and neck regions are among the most common and severe [4]. Previous research has demonstrated that 77% of serious head injuries (Abbreviated Injury Scale 3+) involved skull fractures and focal brain injuries, while minor concussions and more critical diffuse axonal head injuries were much less common (8%) [5,6]. Researchers suggest that prevention of brain injuries and skull fractures should be the focal point of engineering vehicle safety for VRU protection [5]. There are several vehicle tests under consideration to address head injuries from head contacts on the striking vehicles. However, many unique VRU- MVC risk factors influence the efficacy of these tests and their effectiveness in real-world situations. Quantification and evaluation of risk factors for the traffic environment and resultant human injury are necessary for proper modelling and risk assessment [7,8]. Data collection efforts such as the Pedestrian Crash Data Study, conducted in the US in the mid-1990s, include data for enumerating VRU crashes but are now outdated and do not reflect the current vehicle designs or the fleet makeup [9,10]. Additionally, other unique risk factors may limit inferences regarding VRU crashes as the US vehicle fleet has a higher proportion of SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans compared to passenger cars than other nations [11,12]. The purpose of this study is to describe patterns in VRU-MVCs while focusing on head injuries among passenger cars and multipurpose Head Injuries from the Vulnerable Road User Injury Prevention Alliance (VIPA): Effect of Vehicle Type on Head Contact Location Stewart C. Wang, Edward Brown, Kristen Cunningham, Steven R. Horbal, Anne Rammelkamp, Robert Kaufman, Edward H. Trager, Carla Kohoyda-Inglis, Sven Holcombe, Anja Schneider, Franz Roth, Jeffrey Joyner, Becky Mueller, Nick Ables, Timothy Keon IRC-20-42 IRCOBI conference 2020 307