Abstract
Several European research institutes developed, in a joint programme sponsored by the European Communities, a set of subsystem tests to evaluate the protection offered by a car in a pedestrian collision. In this programme, an instrumented mechanical leg was developed to be used in the bumper impact subsystem test. The development of the subsystem test took into account the pedestrian accident characteristics, the injury mechanisms and human tolerance. The capability of the mechanical leg to predict the risk of leg injuries was validated using model simulations and impact tests. (A)