Frontal crashes are the cause of the majority of deaths and injuries on the roads. In 1995, the Federal Office of Road Safety (FORS) introduced Australian Design Rule (ADR) 69 for full frontal crash protection which sets head, chest and leg injury criteria and which has seen the majority of passenger cars fitted with at least driver's side airbags. Since there are currently no regulations anywhere in the world for offset frontal crashes FORS has participated in the work of the European Experimental Vehicle Committee (EEVC) to develop a globally harmonised test procedure for offset frontal crash testing. Other participants included the USA, Canada and Japan. This report summarises the outcomes of Australia's offset frontal crash test program which was considered by EEVC Working Group 11 in drafting the European offset crash test requirements. These test requirements formed the basis of an Australian Design Rule (ADR 73/00) for offset frontal crash protection. Australia's aim is to have a set of frontal crash standards which will result in vehicle designs that protect occupants both in high deceleration head-on crashes as well as "softer" offset crashes which usually result in intrusion based injuries. While serious lower limb injuries are rarely life threatening, they usually result in extremely high societal costs associated with life-long debilitation. (A)
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