The NHTSA has very substantially extended its existing Part 571 - FMVSS Standard No. 201 “Occupant Protection in Interior Impact” [1]. This extension to the Standard necessitatesth e developmento f energy-absorbingt rimmings for protection of vehicle occupants in the event of an impact with components in the upper passenger compartment. The publication describes the requirements of the Standard. This paper illustrates development approaches, assisted by numerical simulation, and investigates these experimentally. Dynamic protection systems for reducing the loads on vehicle occupants in the event of an impact are not covered by this publication.