The Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) has advised the Federal Minister for Transport on drawing up a draft regulation for the protection of vehicle occupants in a frontal collision. This draft regulation provides for a collision between a vehicle and the rigid 30° barrier at 50km/h.

In determining the test criteria, a number of questions had to be answered:​ Which calculatory and influencing possibilities are there in the application of the head protection criterion? How can the head contact be clearly determined? What spreads do the measured values for the dummy demonstrate under the same test conditions, and must these be included in the draft regulation? How frequently does submarining occur and how can submarining be measured? What other regulations can be covered by the global test proposed by this draft regulation? Do small passenger cars currently on the market already fulfill these test conditions?

Results of the following studies by the BASt concerning these aspects are introduced in this paper:​

• Theoretical studies in the "Application of the Head Protection Criterion"
• Practical applications (eight crash tests) on the topic "Variance of the Measured Values"
• Accident data analysis on the topic "Frequency of Submarining"
• Trolley tests on the topic "Determination of Submarining by Measurement"
• 10 crash tests using subcompact passenger car
• Inclusion of other ECE regulations in the global test.

The draft regulation is introduced and critically assessed