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A University of Adelaide laboratory opened yesterday has been purpose-built and will focus on pedestrian crash impact testing. It will be the official testing facility for the pedestrian component of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program, (ANCAP).
NCAP scores pedestrian protection as well as vehicle occupancy protection to help motorists select safer cars.
The university's highly-respected Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR) will use the new laboratory - the only one of its kind in the nation - to do bullbar testing and development, impact testing of energy-absorbing materials, vehicle interior impact testing, crash reconstruction plus high-speed film and data acquisition.
"Pedestrians make up a significant proportion of all road casualties, accounting for 16.5 per cent of all road fatalities and 8.5 per cent of all serious injuries," CASR director Professor Mary Lydon said yesterday. "This testing will assist the design of more pedestrian friendly vehicles."
She said testing would check the protection given to pedestrians by different vehicle structures. It would allow improvements in safety to be measured.
ANCAP chairman Lauchlan McIntosh said the new facility would improve ANCAP's internationally-recognised crash sting regime in the interest of all Australian road users, including pedestrians.
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