Pedestrian protection

Engineers at

have developed a concept for steel bonnets which will allow car makers to meet the strict standards laid down in the European Commission's Directive on pedestrian protection.

Whether a bonnet fulfils the new European Commission's pedestrian protection Directive is decided by what’s called its HIC, or head injury criteria value. This value describes how quickly and how severely a dummy head is decelerated when it hits the bonnet of a car.

From October, two thirds of the surface area of the bonnets of new cars entering the market must have an HIC value no higher than 1,000, while the final third is subject to an HIC requirement of 2,000 at an impact speed of 35mph.

In 2010, the requirements are likely to get tougher – car makers may need to deliver an HIC value of 1,000 for the entire surface area of the bonnet at an impact speed of 40mph.