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HomeTechnical study to review the appropriateness of crash pulses used in current EU legislation
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Minimum performance standards for vehicle crash safety are required by EU legislation, through application of EU and UN regulations in the Union. These standards consist of a relatively small number of full-scale car crash tests and a much higher number of tests at component or separate technical unit (STU) level. The latter tests are often based on sled testing, i.e. a simulation where a cart-like trolley is accelerated or decelerated very rapidly. In some cases, physical testing is replaced by virtual testing techniques. Over the past decades, crash safety performance of cars has improved significantly and to achieve this the design of cars has also changed significantly, notably they have become much stronger and stiffer since the late 1990s when some key EU legislation was originally introduced. As a result, the crash pulse severities seen in real-life are much more aggressive than some of those currently laid down in the legislation, which are based on vehicles from the 1970s and 1980s. Therefore, to ensure a baseline offering adequate safety, they need to be reviewed and updated if appropriate. The objective of this study was to perform a review of crash pulses in the current legislation, assess their appropriateness, and identify potential changes to them along with an indication of possible associated potential benefits and unintended consequences of those changes.
- Published:
- Corporate author(s): Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (European Commission) , TRL
- Personal author(s): Edwards, Mervyn ; Hylands, Nicola ; Grubor, Dejan ; Radcliffe, Jack
- Themes: Transport regulations and safety
- Subject: EU law , motor vehicle , road safety , safety standard , technical regulations , testing , transport accident
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| ISSN | ISBN 978-92-76-20403-9 | DOI 10.2873/58935 | Catalogue number ET-01-20-425-EN-N |
- Released on EU publications website:
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