Abstract
Among the conclusions of the report of the eevc working group on biomechanics applicable to the protection of vehicle occupants, the need for intensive research effort to improve the knowledge of human tolerance was underlined. For the thorax, particularly, there was no satisfactory criterion to estimate the injury risk following an impact. The present paper reports briefly the results of a research programme which has been conducted for six years in the biomechanics laboratory of onser and which deals with thoracic tolerance. This study was partly supported by the european communities as part of the research programme on biomechanics.