The passenger car manufacturers within VDA (German Association of the Automotive Industry) provide a position statement that has the potential to combine research by the American Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers with that of IIHS as well as the efforts of EEVC to constitute a feasible and realistic step for a worldwide compatibility evaluation. This paper provides the technical background of the suggestion. It discusses the relationship between self and partner protection in the current European accident scene and discusses benefits and drawbacks of alternatives currently being discussed in the various groups involved in compatibility research.

Compatibility offers the opportunity to increase safety in a limited manner. However, if it reduces the self-protection of passenger cars, there is the risk that it significantly compromises the currently very positive development of the national road safety figures in Europe.