Guardrail Safety

Crash Test Reports

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NCHRP-350 Tests 3-32 and 3-33 (modified to five degrees)

Description of tests 3-32 and 3-33 (modified to 5°) according to NCHRP Report 350:

Tests 3-32 and 3-33 (modified to 5°) examine the terminal device when it is impacted at an angle by a vehicle (small car or pickup truck, respectively) and are intended primarily to evaluate occupant risk and vehicle trajectory criteria.

Information that has come to light in recent years, since the development of NCHRP 350, suggests that a low impact angle of 5° may reflect a critical impact condition that warrants evaluation. While the standard test matrix for the NCHRP 350 test protocol does not explicitly include a test at the 5° angle, that protocol does state, “It is not possible to anticipate the form that new designs will take nor the critical impact conditions of these new designs. As such, the test matrices presented in this section must not be viewed as all-inclusive. When appropriate, the responsible agency should devise other critical test conditions consistent with the range of expected impact conditions.”

 

Page last modified: Oct. 18, 2019