Crash cushions should be designed to protect the majority of a country's passenger automobile fleet at a reasonable cost. A vehicle weight range which represents 90% of the passenger cars on the road is achievable and is recommended when tests of crash cushions are performed. Some currently proposed testing practices would allow the use of a single average weight vehicle. If an average weight vehicle is used in testing, there is no assurance that the system will function safely for the lower or higher weight vehicles which represent a significant percentage of the vehicle fleet. Occupants of a light weight vehicle e.g. react much differently than occupants in an "average weight vehicle" due to the difference in the momentum transfer effect between the two vehicles. Occupants in a large vehicle may be subjected to intolerable accelerations because the crash cushion does not have sufficient energy absorbing capacity. This paper suggests that designing crash cushions to protect one-weight vehicles, while disregarding the safety of the majority of the vehicle fleet, is incomprehensible. The authors propose a vehicle weight range for Europe and explain the importance of tests using a vehicle range instead of an "average weight vehicle".
Abstract