The Development of Procedures and Equipment for European Pedestrian Impact Protection Requirements 2002-01-0691

Over the recent years, tests have been developed which will result in higher levels of protection afforded to pedestrians involved in vehicle impacts. These requirements will result in improved vehicles, which are designed to be safer and less harmful to pedestrians. The requirements include a series of impact tests into the front end of a vehicle with a variety of instrumented forms including an adult headform, a child headform, as well as an upper legform and a complete legform. Although the requirements have not been finalized, it is expected that they are to become part of the European homologation test series soon. Automobile manufacturers that sell cars in Europe are beginning to incorporate the proposed regulations into new car designs. Readers of this paper will gain a much broader understanding of future changes to vehicles in regard to these requirements, the equipment necessary to conduct these tests, and the data which is used to evaluate front end designs for pedestrian protection.