Lawrence Patrick

Lawrence Patrick (1920 - April 30, 2006 [ [http://www.eng.wayne.edu/page.php?id=4568 Larry Patrick, pioneer auto safety researcher: 1920 - 2006 ] ] ) may well be considered the one of the fathers of the crash test dummy. Between 1960 and 1975, while a biomechanics professor at Detroit's Wayne State University, Patrick served as a "I was a human crash-test dummy", [Mary Roach (November 19, 1999), [http://archive.salon.com/health/col/roac/1999/11/19/crash_test/print.html I was a human crash-test dummy] . Salon.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-29.] allowing himself to be subject to rocket sled rides, crushing blows to the head and body, and other forms of physical abuse in an effort to develop a body of data on how the human body responded in a vehicle accident. One of his students, Harold Mertz, went on to develop Hybrid III, the current world-wide standard crash test dummy. Lawrence also subjected himself to a 50 pound pendulum to the breast plate to test the effects of a steering column on a human. Lawrence died of Parkinson's Disease on April 30, 2006 at the age of 85. [ [http://www.hendersonvillenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060501/OBITUARIES/605010313/1001 Lawrence M. Patrick, 85 | BlueRidgeNow.com | Times-News Online | Hendersonville, NC ] ]

References