Protection of the head in collisions can be achieved in two ways - by padding the head (helmet) or by padding everything the head can come in contact with during a collision. But it would probably be impossible to get a majority of automobile passengers to wear helmets. In padding a surface in an automobile it will be necessary to measure effectiveness of the different materials and combinations of materials used. A standard device for the absolute measurement of the effectiveness of padding and deformable surfaces is proposed here. Findings from laboratory impact tests with various materials struck by simulated head forms are presented.