2.2 Side Impact Harmonization Efforts

NHTSA's initiatives with respect to side impact regulation harmonization began in 1979, when the agency presented a complete description and status of its research and rulemaking activities for upgrading side impact protection to the international community at the Seventh International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESV Conference) in Paris, France in June 1979. In the ESV Conference proceedings, NHTSA stated that:

"The need for improved side impact protection is clear. The program described here is intended to address this problem by means of a U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. However, the need is certainly not limited to the United States nor are the countermeasures that will result from this program necessarily limited to vehicles which are used in the U.S. Because of the universal nature of this problem, NHTSA welcomes any and all contributions and cooperation from the international community. As one step toward solving this international problem, NHTSA expects to work closely with the Group of Experts on the Construction of Vehicles (WP29) of the United Nations. A public meeting is also being planned for later this year to discuss this program. All relevant comments on either the national program presented or a similar international program under the auspices of WP29 would be welcome at this time."

Later in 1979, NHTSA issued a notice for the public meeting to discuss the issues related to the development of a side impact regulation. The public meeting was held on January 31 and February 1, 1980. Attendees included the European governments and industry. Subsequent meetings were also held in Europe to discuss the initiatives. In 1983, the European Experimental Vehicle Committee (EEVC) initiated a research program to develop a side impact dummy, EUROSID, and later EUROSID-1. The program was aimed at developing not only the dummy but also the barrier, the test procedure and the injury criteria. NHTSA collaborated with the Europeans in the testing and evaluation of EUROSID-1 prior to deciding which dummy to use in the final U.S. side impact regulation. However, at the time, EUROSID-1 had many technical problems, leading NHTSA to conclude that the best available dummy was the U.S. side impact dummy (SID), which had been developed between 1979 and 1982 [2]. Moreover, there was variability in the barriers and test procedures between the European and U.S. tests. More details on the agency's past comparison of the U.S. and EU procedures and dummies are given in Section 3.3 of this report. The U.S. concluded that it was imperative to move forward with a side impact standard because real world crash data indicated that fatalities and injuries could be greatly reduced if such a standard was mandated. The U.S. continued to be involved in the development of the European side impact regulation by sending technical representatives to the Meeting of Experts on Passive Safety held in Geneva.