The Working Party on Passive Safety of the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) is developing a draft global technical regulation (GTR) for pedestrian safety. In order to evaluate the potential effects of the draft GTR on the U.S. fleet, NHTSA’s Vehicle Research and Test Center (VRTC) conducted 88 pedestrian head impact tests on 11 vehicles selected to represent the U.S. fleet, with a focus on larger passenger vehicles. The goal was to generate an overall picture of current U.S. vehicle performance with respect to specific structures and test zones in order to better understand the potential challenges and benefits of meeting the regulation.

The peripheral areas of the head impact test zone defined in the draft GTR produced the most severe impacts, with the most challenging areas being in the rear of the test zone (in the area of the hinges, cowl, and wiper spindles) and the lateral edges of the test zone adjacent to the fenders. A smaller number of vehicles produced high-severity impacts at the front edge of the test zone. The challenging areas at the periphery of the test zone did not exceed the GTR requirements in every vehicle. Deformable hood hinges with adequate crushable space between the hood panel and fender, coverage of the cowl by the back edge of the hood, and flanges under the fender edge all resulted in significant HIC reductions from those areas in vehicles without these countermeasures.

The range of performance in the vehicles tested indicates that while there is room for improvement in current head impact protection in US vehicles, countermeasures exist to improve the worst areas of the test zone. The presence of pedestrian-friendly components in heavier and high-front vehicles shows that design modifications are not limited to smaller vehicles.