Review of the European frontal and side impact directives

The work reported here relates to a research project that was undertaken to support the current review of the European frontal and side impact Directives. The aim of the project was to conduct a general review focusing on the major issues identified in the Articles of the Directives and in a report to the European Commission on accident analyses. These are test speed, neck injury criteria and extension to N1 vehicles for frontal impact; and test severity, barrier height, seating position, Viscous Criterion and the necessity of a pole test for side impact. A comprehensive analysis of the results from the European New Car Assessment Program (EuroNCAP) crash tests has been used to review the suitability of the current injury criteria, car structural performance requirements and test configuration. This is backed up with accident analysis using data from the UK Co-operative Crash Injury Study (CCIS) and the recent accident analysis co-funded by the European Commission. Full-scale car crash testing has been used to help substantiate the findings of the study. The research was funded by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) and has been reported to the European Enhanced Vehicle-safety Committee (EEVC) frontal and side impact working groups.