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Mr. Donald Friedman was developing vehicle concepts at GM from 1960 to 1968 and has continued this research since then as president and founder of Minicars, Inc. He has participated in the development of urban electric cars, the DOT/AMF/ESV, passive restraints and structural energy management programs. Mr. Friedman is presently in charge of systems analysis and integration of the Minicars Research Safety Vehicle Program.

Lunar and planetary programs have entered the surface exploration research phase. In this phase, considerable emphasis is needed on high mobility vehicle configurations, reliability and high efficiency, low weight electrochemical energy converters, and electric traction power systems. This research, in many cases, is applicable to solving future mobility problems on earth. Three areas of current lunar and terrestrial research are discussed and analyzed, and the correlative advantages to those working in both fields are highlighted. The three areas are; (1) high mobility vehicle configurations; (2) electrochemical energy converters; and (3) electric traction power systems.

For twenty years the dynamic test protocol for automotive safety research has been to use an anthropomorphic dummy in sled and crash test simulations. For the past four years, the author and associates have created and used a computer test protocol to model real world accidents and determine injury reduction from potential design modifications without some of the limitations and cost of the physical hardware and test procedure. The computer test protocol is described and examples of the research results in side and rollover accidents are detailed. Preliminary conclusions about injury reduction countermeasures and continuing research are suggested.