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Definitions and Grading Systems

Crashworthiness- the ability of a vehicle to protect its occupants in a crash.
Head lag- the rearward motion of the head relative to the torso during the first phase of whiplash.
Late whiplash- chronic whiplash
LOSRIC- low speed rear impact collision
Re-entry- the forward phase of whiplash.
Whiplash- a term which is variously described in the literature as an injury to the cervical spine and/or supporting soft tissues resulting from motor vehicle trauma: the term, as most often used, excludes fractures or dislocations of vertebrae, and some authors limit the term to rear impact crash vectors, while others consider it to include an injury from any type of crash scenario.

Grading is used to determine the severity of a collision.
Many different systems exist, although each system has its own strong and weak points.
The AIS, ISS, and KABCO are just a few of the systems used by professionals today.
For example, the AIS system (shown below) is very useful in research collection, but is not capable of predicting impairment or disability.

Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS):
1 = minor
2 = moderate
3 = serious
4 = severe
5 = critical
6 = maximal injury; virtually not survivable
9 = unknown