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Pedestrian Crash Avoidance

NHTSA has published its final report documenting the work completed by the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership (CAMP) Crash Imminent Braking (CIB) Consortium during the project titled “Objective Tests for Forward Looking Pedestrian Crash Avoidance/Mitigation Systems.”

The report discusses minimum performance requirements and objective test procedures for pedestrian crash avoidance and mitigations systems.

For a copy of the report, click here.

ZEV Program Update

Below is important information on a new announcement and a recent action concerning the ZEV regulation: 

ZEV Regulation Workshop Scheduled for July 14, 2014

On June 5, 2014, CARB issued Mail-Out #ECARS 14-06 announcing that, in response to Board direction at the October 2013 Board Meeting, ARB staff is developing a proposal for modifications to the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Regulation.  A workshop to discuss staff's proposed modifications to compliance requirements and other provisions for Intermediate Volume Manufacturers is scheduled for July 14, 2014 in Sacramento, CA.  The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 am and conclude by 1 pm.  Workshop materials will be posted on the ARB's ZEV website one week prior to the workshop.  The workshop will also be viewable via the internet by accessing the following link on the day of the workshop:http://www.calepa.ca.gov/broadcast/?BDO=1.

ZEV Minor Modification Final Rulemaking Package Filed with OAL

On May 30, 2014, CARB staff filed its Final Rulemaking Package with the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for the Minor Modifications that were subject of two 15-day notices in April and May of this year.  With the minor modifications, CARB is adjusting the optional S.177 state compliance path, maintaining a minimum ZEV credit requirement (regardless of model year and use of non-ZEV credits earned in the regulation), and modifying the fast refueling definition to ensure vehicle usage and capability.  For details on the action, refer tohttp://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2013/zev2013/zev2013.htm.  Note: OAL has until July 14, 2014 to make a determination.

FLEX-PLI Evaluation Published

On June 4, 2014, NHTSA posted a report to Docket No. NHTSA-2008-0145 entitled, Technical Evaluation of the Flexible Pedestrian Leg Impactor (FLEX-PLI).  Published last month by NHTSA, the report draws the conclusion that the Flex-PLI is an appropriate test tool for evaluating pedestrian lower extremity protection in vehicle bumper impacts.

The report abstract reads as follows:

The objective of this study was to evaluate the production version of the Flex-PLI (known as FlexGTR) pedestrian legform. Testing & analysis were done to examine the biofidelity, injury criteria, repeatability, reproducibility, durability, injury criteria efficacy, and sensitivity to vehicle design. Various bumper configurations from thirteen vehicles were tested with the Flex-PLI, in addition to multiple qualification tests, to evaluate these aspects of the legform. The primary findings from this evaluation were that the Flex-PLI legform is:

• Durable, as it didn’t sustain any significant structural damage in 30+ vehicle bumper impacts at 40 km/h. Many of these vehicles were far from complying with the proposed GTR injury limits.

• Biofidelic, as the legform maintained conformance with qualification corridors derived from biomechanical data

• Repeatable, with percent coefficients of variation (%CV) below 5% for all channels and below 2% for all injury channels (MCL and tibia 1 bending moment) in vehicle bumper tests

• Reproducible, with %CV 10% or below for three different legforms in vehicle bumper tests and below 4% in pendulum qualification tests without vehicle or test setup-related variance

• Sensitive to vehicle design, as demonstrated through testing a large range of compliant and non-compliant bumper systems. The Flex-PLI discriminated between systems containing pedestrian countermeasures, such as the lower bumper stiffener and modular energy absorber, and older model year, non-GTR compliant systems present in the U.S. fleet

In addition to these positive aspects of the Flex-PLI, testing with the legform led to a better understanding of (a) the feasibility of producing a bumper system that can comply with both GTR and bumper damageability requirements, (b) the differences expected from using the Flex-PLI instead of the EEVC leg, and (c) the current performance of the U.S. fleet with respect to the GTR. In summary, this assessment demonstrated that the Flex-PLI is an appropriate test tool for evaluating pedestrian lower extremity protection in vehicle bumper impacts.

 

Valukas Report Regarding GM Ignition Switch Recalls

On June 5, 2014, NHTSA posted to its website a redacted version of the Valukas report that explores the ten year plus run-up to the 2014 recall of ignition switches installed on various model year Chevy Cobalt and HHR vehicles, Pontiac G5 and Solstice vehicles, and Saturn Ion and Sky vehicles.  For a copy of the report, click here.