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Restraint systems are either active or passive. If active (usually safety belts), they offer good individual effectiveness and low cost, but because of low use rate, have low benefit on the societal (national) level. Passive systems eliminate dependency on use rate, therefore promise high societal benefit, but usually at high cost in dollars and/or convenience. Such restraints, whether active or passive, serve primarily to augment passive protection already offered in passenger cars like the energy absorbing column, high penetration windshield glass, etc., which accident data indicate can provide a basic level of protection, and do help reduce the effects of a collision.

The Impact Sled, a full-scale laboratory facility which simulates vehicle accidents, has been in use at the General Motors Proving Ground since late 1962. This paper describes the facility and supporting instrumentation, and reviews some of the many types of tests that were run in the first year of operation. These range from tests of complete vehicles loaded with passenger dummies to tests of single components such as seat belts, seat adjusters, door locks, and windshields. This new research tool, which produces results comparable to those of the classical barrier impact test, has proved to be a valuable and versatile addition to the automotive testing facilities at the Proving Ground.