VIRTUAL - a European approach to foster the uptake of virtual testing in vehicle safety assessment

In the assessment of road user and vehicle occupant safety, physical testing is limited to a few scenarios. To advance transport safety it is vital to include more relevant scenarios. Virtual Testing offers an opportunity to introduce additional test scenarios. The objectives of the VIRTUAL project, described in this paper, include: Identifying impact scenarios relevant for the future, providing tools such as models, guidelines, and a corresponding platform to foster the uptake of virtual testing. The safety of standing passengers on public transport has been reviewed, scenarios for Vulnerable Road User testing have been identified and new seated positions for future vehicles have been described. In addition, a virtual testing platform has been established on which human body models are provided. The platform follows the open access approach, complements other approaches and does not just provide the models, but also guidelines on how to implement new scenarios in test procedures.