BREAKAWAY LUMINAIRE SUPPORT FOR MINI-CARS

DUE TO THE DOWNSIZING OF AUTOMOBILES ON U.S. HIGHWAYS, MINI-CARS HAVE BECOME A MAJOR PART OF THE AUTO POPULATION. THE LIGHT WEIGHT AND HIGH CRUSH RATE OF THESE VEHICLES CAN CAUSEHIGH VELOCITY CHANGE LEVELS WHEN IMPACTING MOST EXISTING BREAKAWAY LUMINAIRE SUPPORTS. THIS INCREASES THE PROBABILI-TY OF INJURY TO OCCUPANTSOF MINI-CARS WHEN IMPACTING LUMI- NAIRE SUPPORTS. CONCEPTS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED WHICH CAN SUB-STANTIALLY REDUCE THE BREAKAWAY ENERGY REQUIREMENTS OF LU- MINAIRE SUPPORTS. THESE CONCEPTS WILL BE ANALYZED AND A CONCEPT SELECTED FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. A PROTOTYPE WILL BE FABRICATED AND TESTED TO DETERMINE BREAKAWAY PERFORMANCE IN AN 1800 LB MINI-CAR TEST.