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A driver's preference for one of two different vehicle models that have the same measurable acceleration may be explained by complicated factors such as styling, NVH or ergonomics. If the vehicles have identical appearance but different levels of engine tune, discrimination would probably be due to the measurable difference in performance although other factors cannot be entirely discounted. If however, the assessment is made of vehicles with identical appearance and identical performance then any preference is attributable to an area of human assessment that has been termed subjective performance. This paper discusses the first step in a qualitative approach to the analysis of driver perception of vehicle performance and more specifically investigates subjective performance. The proposed model ascribes distinct components such as induced and perceived performance to the total subjective performance rating.

With drivers wearing 3-point seat belts, the head-steering-wheel impact occurs in most serious accidents, so inducing mainly face injuries. In a first part, the authors analyze the injuries observed in a sample of 1180 belted drivers involved in frontal collisions, making a distinction, mainly for facial impacts, between injuries related to the properly so-called face and those to the skull and brain and the different possible lesional correlations. In the second part are presented the results of work carried out in order to define a human face model adaptable to any type of Hybrid II or Hybrid III dummies' heads. The use of this model allows one to elaborate a new protection criterion for the face, destination of which should be to complete the head and skull protection criterion, such as the HIC (or another equivalent criterion which could possibly replace it).