To provide objective consumer information, concerning the interior safety of a passenger car, would give prospective car-buyers the chance of directly influencing road safety by selecting the safest cars. Several investigations have been carried out on this subject under different points of view. This paper will outline a first approach to a test method trying to assess the passive safety potential of passenger cars closely oriented to real-world accidents. The procedure should be suitable to point out deficiencies in vehicle safety design and to indicate methodical improvements in the passive safety performance. The results of several full scale impact tests are discussed referring to dummy response, structural behavior and safety performance of interior vehicle components. Furthermore additional component-tests are proposed which will be necessary to obtain an extensive assessment of the passive safely level of the tested vehicle.