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While accident data show a decreasing number of fatalities and serious injuries on European Union (EU) roads, recent data from ERSO (European Road Safety Observatory) show an increasing proportion of elderly in the fatality statistics. Due to the continuous increase of life expectancy in Europe and other highly-developed countries, the elderly make up a higher number of drivers and other road users such as bicyclists and pedestrians whose mobility needs and habits have been changing over recent years. Moreover, due to their greater vulnerability, the elderly are more likely to be seriously injured in any given accident than younger people. With the goal of improving the safety mobility of the elderly, the SENIORS Project, funded by the European Commission, is investigating and assessing the injury reduction that can be achieved through innovative tools and safety systems.

South East Asia is one of the regions with highest traffic-related fatality rates worldwide −18.5 fatalities per 100.000 inhabitants-. In response to that, governments of ASEAN countries are currently introducing new regulations, which will help to improve the road safety standards in the region. This paper reviews new safety regulations in force of following ASEAN countries: Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. General safety trends promote the approach to international standards as well as the adoption of UNECE regulations. In fact, the 1958 agreement was signed by Thailand and Malaysia in 2006. Besides, Malaysia has gradually adopted fifty-three UNECE regulations so far and is currently considering the inclusion of twenty-four more. After the success of other NCAP organizations, the ASEAN NCAP assessment program was established in 2011.

Pedestrians and cyclists are the most unprotected road users and their injury risk in case of accidents is significantly higher than for other road users. The understanding of the influence and sensitivity between important variables describing a pedestrian crash is key for the development of more efficient and reliable safety systems. This paper reflects the related work carried out within the AsPeCSS project. The results summarized out of virtual and physical tests provide valuable information for further development. 1168 virtual and 120 physical tests were carried out with adult and child pedestrian headform as well as upper and lower legform impactors representatives of 4 different vehicle front geometries in a wide range of impact speeds, angles and locations. This test matrix was based on previous work carried out within the AsPeCSS project.

The increasing variety of test configurations and requirements has leaded to carry out activities of greater complexity. These advanced crash tests usually involve vehicle trajectories which are not straight and cannot be performed with the usual testing system. In order to increase the testing capabilities, a new guiding system was developed. An in-loop processing of the images filmed by a camera enables the vehicle to follow a path marked on the floor. An algorithm for image processing through colour filters was developed to identify the position of the line marked on the floor. Based on this input the steering wheel is rotated by an electric motor which receives the input of the electronic software. After a first phase of development, the system was able to identify the marked line on the floor and control the angle of the steering wheel to maintain the desired trajectory. However, the robustness should be increased.

The introduction of the new NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) oblique test configuration presents a new and critical load case that manufacturers are on the way to solving. Towards providing the best tools for passive safety development, this paper presents the work carried out to enable the analysis of the loads transmitted to the barrier in this kind of test. These data enable the identification of the elements of the vehicle that take part in the absorption of energy during the crash and are a valuable tool to improving the safety of vehicles by comparing the loads transmitted to the barrier in oblique tests. To record these data, a load cell wall system located between the deformable barrier and the trolley was installed. To assess the barrier design, one oblique test with the RMDB barrier was carried out. The deformable barrier for the oblique test is instrumented with 9 columns of 3 and 4 load cells with a total of 32 x-axial load cells.

For many years, all Side Impact Crash Test studies have been put into practice considering the results achieved from the EuroSID II dummy. The introduction of the WorldSID to the crash test world has become a milestone not only for vehicle manufacturers but also for crash test laboratories. Because of this, it is necessary to study the differences between the EuroSID II and the new dummy to be used from now on in Euro NCAP Side Impact Tests, the WorldSID. To do this, an in-depth analysis of the structure of both dummies was carried out so as to obtain a clearer view of what can be expected of the values achieved from testing them. Furthermore, a series of impact tests were defined, based on side impact virtual tests, making a special effort to obtain crash test results from both dummies in very similar configurations.