First Step to a Pedestrian Safety Car

The front end of a standard factory model passenger automobile was modified at those points with the greatest potential for inducing injuries for the purpose of reducing the primary impact of a pedestrian against the car.

The modifications were performed on the geometry and the structure of the front end. Special consideration was placed on achieving a suitable design. In experimental investigations with adult and child pedestrians, loads inflicted on the bodily parts struck by standard factory model and by modified vehicles were measured and compared. It was discovered that considerable reduction of the loading was achieved with the modified vehicle upon primary impact.