In this paper the pedestrian motion after the vehicle impact is thoroughly investigated within a multibody variation study. The intention of this study is to generally assess the injury risk due to secondary impact solely with the help of kinematic parameters. Pedestrian centre of gravity and rotational kinematics are analysed from the first contact up to the final position. The study shows that for most vehicles launch angle and speed as well as flying height are rather stable against variations of the initial stance and impact position. In contrast to this, the pedestrian’s rotation is highly influenced by leg and arm posture, which makes predictions of head impact risk in secondary impact difficult. A high bonnet leading edge (BLE) in relation to the pedestrian stance as well as large bonnet and windshield angles increase the risk of a head impact on the ground, whereas the kinematic boundary conditions before the secondary impact influence the sliding distance. A reduction in collision speed however is beneficial for the pedestrian kinematics and leads to a decrease in altitude, rotation and throw distance. The post‐car impact pedestrian kinematics as well as the influence of a reduction in collision speed is demonstrated in tests with the Polar‐II pedestrian dummy.