According to statistics gathered in 2008 by the National Highway Traffic safety Administration (NHTSA), over 60,000 pedestrians were injured in traffic accidents in the USA [2]. When a pedestrian is struck by a car moving at a speed of 35 miles per hour, the injuries are likely to be fatal as a result of the impact of the pedestrian's head with the windshield or the frame of the car. A team, led by crash specialists at Cranfield University, has devised a new design of an external airbag which is fitted under the hood [4]. Unlike other airbags that are designed to protect the driver and passengers, this system is purely aimed at improving the pedestrian safety.

Paper presented to the 7th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) held at the Marcus Welcome Center, Wichita State University, May 4, 2011.Research completed at the Department of Mechanical Engineering