VEHICLE COMPATIBILITY AND AGGRESSIVITY: A DISCUSSION PAPER OF THE ISSUES

Crashworthiness of passenger cars has largely been taken to mean self-protection in a crash and vehicle designs traditionally focus on providing optimal protection for the occupants of that vehicle. It has been argued, however, that this philosophy has led to designs that overlook the protection of occupants in the other car in a car-to-car crash and that what is required is a design that optimises self- and partner-protection. However, very little is known about ways in which the current vehicle fleet can be optimised to achieve increased occupant protection. This is a new and difficult challenge for vehicle safety in the years ahead and this paper attempts to outline the issues associated with compatibility and aggressivity for consideration as well as some preliminary thoughts on solutions worthy of future consideration. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see IRRD abstract no. E200025.