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Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 226 outlines a component test methodology that consists of a linear impact test that uses a featureless head-form with a mass of 18 kg to impact a vehicle's side windows' daylight openings at various positions. The test measures the excursion of the head-form beyond the plane of the window glazing. The intention is to evaluate the ability of a vehicle's ejection mitigation system, such as the curtain airbag or other vehicle features, to manage the impactor energy and limit excursion. However, there are several factors which may cause variation in the amount of excursion measured in the test. These factors include how the vehicle is restrained for the test, the friction of the linear impactor shaft and the lateral deflection of the impactor shaft among others.

As a part of its ejection mitigation research, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed a linear impact test that uses a featureless head-form to impact a vehicle's side windows' daylight opening at various positions. The test measures the excursion of the head-form beyond the plane of the window glazing. The intention is to evaluate the ability of a vehicle's ejection mitigation countermeasures, such as the curtain airbag or other vehicle features, to manage the impactor energy and limit excursion. However, at this time NHTSA has not yet established the performance criteria for the excursion. Additionally, there is no clear agreement on the energy level to be used for ejection mitigation testing. The agency has considered three energy levels for the head-form impact: 178, 280, and 400 Joules [ 9 ].