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Current accident analysis shows that the head of the pedestrian impacts most frequently into or around the windscreen since cars in recent have a short hood. Therefore, the injury risks to the head in contact with various locations of the car including the windscreen and its frame were examined on the basis of headform impact tests. The HIC is high from contact with the cowl, lower windscreen frame or A pillar, and it is low with increasing distance from these structural elements. In the windscreen center, the HIC is less than 500. The headform impact test results were compared between earlier and current car models. The HICs in the bonnet top area are similar in either type car except for the car built especially for pedestrian safety. However, on the A pillar, the HICs are much greater for current cars. From child headform impact tests for the WAD of 1000 mm, the HIC of SUV is higher than cars, and the SUV with steel bull bar leads to high injury risk.

Improvement of pedestrian safety is considered a priority in crash injury protection. Dummies, however, are not able to give a humanlike and repeatable impact response in pedestrian tests. The Biomechanical Laboratory of ONSER in France and the Department of Traffic Safety of Chalmers University in Götheborg, Sweden have designed a new dummy for pedestrian testing. The dummy is designed according to the latest available anthropometric and biomechanical data. Its symmetry around the vertical axis allows repeatability for the kinematic and injury parameters. It allows a measurement of uncommon biomechanical parameters related to injury mechanisms. Its leg is instrumented to determine the distribution of forces and momenta applied to the leg.