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Realistically, the only way to significantly improve the pedestrian injury situation is by separation of the vehicle and pedestrian population to prevent collision occurring, since injury to a pedestrian is inevitable if hit by a car travelling at even low speeds. However, it is important to assess the contribution that vehicle design characteristics can make to minimise the consequences of such collisions for a variety of pedestrian types, and to establish the various vehicle parameters that can influence pedestrian injury. This paper describes the initial stages of an investigation into these parameters by means of computer simulation. First, the joint, inertia, and contact characteristics of a 50th percentile adult dummy and a 6-year-old child dummy were established by tests. The contact characteristics of a range of car fronts were also determined from pendulum tests at speeds of 24 and 40km/h.

A side impact study carried out on a particular vehicle has been described and used as a case study to represent a methodology for incorporating side crashworthiness in a new vehicle concept design. In the automotive design environment, it has proved difficult to include side crashworthiness satisfactorily in the initial stages of the passenger car design. Lack of vehicle data at such a stage does not allow detailed finite element analysis. It is, however, possible to suggest the required collapse properties for individual components within the structure so that, through a coarse finite element idealization, a design for crashworthiness can be carried out. The crash properties of the structure can be arrived at by parametric studies of individual components that are absorbing the major portion of the crash energy.