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Helps reduce risk of whiplash neck injuries in rear-end collisions.

Approximately 53% of passenger car injury accidents in Japan are rear-end collisions, and approximately 90% of these injuries involve neck injuries, including whiplash (Figure 1). Seats incorporating the WIL(Whiplash Injury Lessening) concept are designed to cushion the passenger’s head and chest simultaneously, alleviating the impact on the neck region and thus helping to minimize whiplash injuries to that area.

Figure 1 Collision Patterns of Fatal Accidents involving Driver/Passenger
NEXT Main Injury Areas in Rear-end Collisions Causing Injurty to Driver/Passenger

Whiplash injuries occur when the head and torso move in relative ways during a rear-end collision. Believing that it is important for the seatback and headrest to simultaneously cushion the occupant's head and torso during an impact, Toyota re-assessed the positioning of the seatback frame and headrest and also increased the rigidity of the seat frame in designing the WIL concept seats.

Advances in WIL concept seats using THUMS.

In developing the WIL concept seats, Toyota utilized THUMS, a computer model representing the human body which had been jointly developed by Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Central R&D Labs. THUMS enabled Toyota to simulate occupant/pedestrian injuries in car crashes, that are difficult to achieve with current crash test dummies. THUMS was used to confirm the effectiveness of the WIL concept seats to help reducing whiplash injury risk for occupants in low speed rear impacts.