Optimal crash countermeasure designs must successfully balance two potentially conflicting objectives:​ (1) maximizing passenger protection in the vehicle under design, and (2) minimizing aggressiveness toward other vehicles in the fleet inixi To meet these objectives, vehicle crashworthiness must be evaluated, not just on the basis of a single test configuration or test speed, but also on the safety performance of the vehicle when exposed to the entire traffic accident environment. Ideally, the goal of vehicle design should be to minimize injuries on a system-wide basis, ie, across the full spectrum of expected collision partners, collision speeds, occupant heights, occupant ages, and occupant injury tolerance levels.

This paper presents a comprehensive methodology for global optimization of vehicle impact designs, and considers total injuries in both the subject vehicle and its collision partners. The paper presents a systems approach to vehicle crashworthiness design which combines computer simulations of vehicle/occupant dynamic crash rcsponses with a stochastic representation of the US. accident environment and crash victim population. The results of the safety systems design optimization of a 3,000-lb production passcngcr car are discussed illustrating the potential for design modifications which simultaneously improve passenger protection while reducing aggressivity.