Accident Research and Frontal Testing

Frontal collisions are still the primary reason for fatal injuries of car occupants. In classifying accidents, more attention must be given to the different sequences in car-to-car and single-car accidents and to damage and strain criteria. From the accident researcher's point of view, the following recommendations are outlined: a) it is not sufficient to describe the real-life frontal accident by one standardized test; b) the frontal fixed barrier test should be used as the main reference test; c) an angled crash or an offset test is necessary, which has to be carried out in such a way to simulate the problem of one-sided intrusion of the passenger compartment; and d) in a third test configuration, a supplementary car-to-movable-barrier test is desirable