Abstract
The objective of the frontal crashworthiness research the development effort at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is to assess the safety problem associated with occupants of passenger cars involved in frontal impacts and to identify potential remedies for the problem. The focus of this paper is on passenger protection. Accident data, laboratory component data, sled and crash test data, and analytical simulation efforts form the basis for the definition of the passenger protection safety problem and the identification of alternative countermeasures. This paper presents the progress and results in each of the areas related to this program.