Impact Laboratory

The CASR Impact Laboratory is a purpose built facility used for conducting pedestrian sub-system testing. The laboratory is the official testing facility for the pedestrian component of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) and is the only facility of its kind in Australia.

CASR studies the influence of vehicle design on pedestrian injury in a collision. The Impact Laboratory is a central part of our pedestrian safety research, which considers both accident prevention and injury mitigation through vehicle design.

It is the only laboratory in Australia set up to conduct pedestrian 'sub-system' impact tests on vehicles. It is equipped to assess the danger posed by the front of a vehicle to a pedestrian. Our study does not use full scale crash test dummies, as is done with studies on occupant protection, but 'sub-systems' that represent, separately, the head, upper leg, and lower leg of a pedestrian. These sub-system impactors are launched at the stationary vehicle.

The laboratory's main client is the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), which regularly publishes the results of the pedestrian sub-system tests that rate the safety performance of a new vehicle in a collision with a pedestrian.

You can also view a 30 minute presentation on Pedestrian Impact Testing (QuickTime required).