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Motor racing circuit barrier systems have traditionally been tested by impacting them with, typically, a 780kg, 450mm x 450mm flat impactor, at a velocity of 12m/s (43.2kph). Since the adoption of energy absorbing nose-cones on Formula1 and other single-seater racing cars, which are subject to an FIA impact test into a rigid barrier, it has become necessary to develop a more appropriate barrier test to take into account the compatibility between the sharp, rigid nose-cone and the relatively soft tyre barriers that are used on circuits world-wide. The FIA commissioned the Transport Research Laboratories (TRL) in the UK, to carry out a series of barrier impact tests using a Formula 3000 nose-cone mounted on the 780kg impacting trolley, at speeds of 16.7m/s (60kph) and 22.2m/s (80kph).

Currently, there is great interest in motorsports medicine in measuring driver head impact accelerations by adding small triaxial accelerometers to the communication earpieces worn by drivers. Various studies have attempted to validate the ability of the earpiece accelerometers to accurately measure head accelerations. Those experiments demonstrate success in being able to measure head accelerations on dummies and humans in low severity impacts and non-impact head motion. No study has been performed to ascertain the ability of the earpiece accelerometers to accurately measure rigid body head accelerations of the skull when they are mounted in a human ear canal and subjected to high severity head accelerations. This research was performed to evaluate the frequency response and coupling of the earpiece accelerometers to the human skull using post mortem human subject (PMHS) heads as the most realistic surrogate for the living human.