The potential of increased occupant protection in cars is large with a possible reduction of deaths and disabilities of more than 50%. Increased protection is also a strategic area for the gradual implementation of the Swedish 0-goal, that is the goal of zero fatalities in the road transport system. The possibilities to manage a further development of crashworthiness by simply a legislative process is limited, especially in Europe, and it can be estimated that the distance between the levels in vehicle regulations and best practice is 20 years. This is mainly because the technical development is driven by market forces, while the legislative process is not. Such a process must be fed by adequate information about important differences between products, as well as possible solutions. In this presentation, it is claimed that such information, partly derived from crash tests, must be dynamic in the sense that criteria and test methods must be changed gradually. The Swedish approach to consumer information is presented, like Swedish NCAP, as well as the EURO-NCAP activities. (A)
Abstract