The consequences of traffic accidents for passenger vehicles have been significantly reduced as a result ofthe introduction of safety measures primarily directed at car safety;​ passenger restraint systems, energy-absorbing front ends of cars, more stable passenger compartments, etc, Now as before, however. the collision between a car and a truck is one of the most dangerous forms of vehicle accidents;​ this type of collision claimed the lives of 567 car passengers during 1986 in West Germany.

Particularly frequent and perilous is the head-on collision between cars and trucks. Almost two-thirds of German car passengersk illed in collisions with trucks were the victims of such frontal crashes. Safety research was therefore conductedb y the Institut für Fahrzeugtechnik der Technischen Universität Berlin (Institute of Vehicle Technology at the Technical University of Berlin), to lessen the dangerposed by the front end of a truck. This research was sponsored by the HUK-Verband München (HUK Association of Liability, Accident, and Automobile Underwriters of Munich), as well as by the donation of vehicles from the company Daimler-Benz.

Energy-absorbing deformation elements for the front ends of trucks were developed in component tests, with the elements being matched to the characteristics of the deformation zones of cars. Development and optimization took place initially, and the resultant designs were tested for actual safety gains achieved, by means of crash tests with real vehicles. Nine vehicle-vehicle crash tests were conducted, with various versions of front-end protection systems, with cars equipped and not equipped with additional safety features, and at various impact speeds.