June 17 – 18, 2026  |  Bergisch Gladbach, Germany

 Wednesday, June 17, 2026 

The times given here refer to CEST = UTC+2h

09:00

Welcome

Präsident und Professor Markus Oeser - BASt - German Federal Highway and Transport Research Institute

09:15

Evidence-based Evolution of VRU Safety Requirements

Dr.-Ing. Holger Staack - AUDI AG
  • Potential for modernization after 2 decades VRU Safety?
  • GIDAS VRU-accident study
  • Comprehensive approach for effective evolution of safety requirements

09:45

Influence of AEB-Caused Pitching on Passive Pedestrian Test Provisions

Adrian Hellmann - BASt - German Federal Highway and Transport Research Institute

10:15

Coffee Break

10:45

Challenges in Developing Freestanding Dummies for Pedestrian Collision Tests

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Lars Hannawald - HTW Dresden University of Applied Sciences

11:15

Euro NCAP VRU 2026 ADAS Assessments – Increased Challenges

Adrian Hellmann - BASt - German Federal Highway and Transport Research Institute; Boris Terfurth - BGS Böhme & Gehring GmbH
  • Changes in testing and assessment
  • Detailed look into the new scenarios
  • Prediction, verification, robustness layers
  • Truck VRU safety testing

11:45

Lunch Break

12:45

Bus Transfer to BASt

13:30

PRAXIS:
Laboratory & Proving Ground of the German Federal Highway and Transport Research Institute (BASt)
Analysis and Discussion of Pedestrian Protection Measures of Current Vehicles

  • Demos
    • aPLI
    • Impact Test
    • Crash Test Biofidel Dummy
    • Active Safety Test Methods & Tools
    • Vehicle Mark-up
  • Vehicle Presentations:
    • AUDI (model tba)
    • BMW (iX3)
    • Ford (Tourneo Custom)
    • Kia (PV5 Passenger)
    • Mercedes-Benz (GLC EQ)
    • TOYOTA (Aygo X Hybrid)
    • Volvo ES90

BMW iX3 Ford Tourneo Custom KIA PV5 Mercedes GLC EQ TOYOTA Aygo X Volvo ES90

16:55

End of Conference Day 1

19:00

Evening Event at Consilium Cologne

Consilium Köln

Rathausplatz 1, 50667 Köln

 

 Thursday, June 18, 2026 

09:00

HBM Virtual Testing Procedures for VRUs – Activities within the EU-Project IMPROVA

Dr.-Ing. Andre Eggers - BASt - German Federal Highway and Transport Research Institute
  • Ideas for an HBM-based VT procedure for test and assessment of VRU impacts against passenger cars
  • Improvement of pedestrian HBMs to address long-term consequence injuries
  • Approaches for validation of a vehicle front-end simulation model to be used in a VT pedestrian safety assessment procedure

09:30

The Frontend Geometry as a Potential Determining Factor for Impact Kinematics and Injury Severity of Pedestrians

Oliver Zander - BASt - German Federal Highway and Transport Research Institute
  • Research question
  • Methods and Results
  • To Do's

10:00

New Challenges for Pedestrian Protection posed by Supercars

Andy Alter - TÜV Rheinland Kraftfahrt GmbH
  • Type approval
  • Possible evaluation of not measurable attributes
  • Increased risk of injury because of the design of the vehicle
  • Small series

10:30

Coffee Break

11:00

aPLI Round Robin – Update

Björn Hohage - AUDI AG
  • Update of the presentation from 2025
  • Execution of comparative tests in 6 laboratories with 13 different impactors on a generalized test frame
  • Preparation of the test results with regard to the current Euro NCAP evaluation scheme
  • Preliminary investigations into the causes of the scatter observed

11:30

Robust Impactor, Unstable Rating – Why the (Euro) NCAP aPLI Scoring is not Robust Enough

Jan Wilsmann - BMW AG
  • Classification of current experiences with the aPLI in the context of (Euro) NCAP assessment
  • Integration of round-robin and vehicle test experiences
  • Relevance of the results for vehicle development and target achievement
  • Open issues and questions for future assessment approaches

12:00

C-NCAP 2027 VRU Assessment

Yuanjin Pei - CATARC - China Automotive Technology & Research Center

12:20

Lunch Break

13:20

Euro NCAP Pedestrian Protection: Challenges for Manufacturers and Testing Organizations

Volker Sandner - ADAC Technik Zentrum Landsberg
  • Impactors
  • Assessment criteria
  • Test matrix / test layers

13:50

Analysis of Windshield Impact Tests based on Criteria for Atypical Fracture Behavior

Dany Tapigue - Ford-Werke GmbH; Peter Lessmann - BGS Böhme & Gehring GmbH

14:20

Coffee Break

14:50

European SCART-Institute: Scenario-based Type Approval Processes in Europe - Current Status and Outlook 

Dr. Abayomi Otubushin - SCART-Institute
  • SCART – Safety of Connected and Automated Road Traffic
  • Build market trust in Level 2+ automated driving systems
  • Digitised homologation process for UNECE and European frameworks
  • Unified assessment criteria that reduce regulatory uncertainty.
  • Traceable and transparent for authorities, fleets, and customers.

15:20

Investigating the Influence of the 3D Muscle Representation with Hybrid Active Properties in the Ansys Hans Human Body Model for Vehicle Safety Applications

Michael Ditthardt - Mercedes-Benz AG
  • Active HBMs in pedestrian protection
  • Hybrid muscle modelling approach
  • 1D vs. 3D muscle modelling
  • Kinematics & injury risk analysis

 

 

Program subject to change.

in cooperation with


BGS Böhme & Gehring GmbH

Sponsors


.