Test vehicle preparation

What clause 6.5 asks

Clause 6.5 prepares the test vehicle. It covers the general requirement, the vehicle dimensions, the condition of the vehicle, ballast, reference points and occupant injury. A test vehicle is a vehicle and load bed anyone can buy, with the chassis and the front structure as the maker built them. A load bed may be fitted to the maker's instructions, and ballast may be held down. Ballast is the extra mass needed to reach the test mass within tolerance. Unladen mass leaves ballast out but counts the maker's equipment, oil, coolant and a little fuel. The vehicle datum is a fixed mark for measurements before and after the hit, and where it sits depends on the body type.

Why it matters

The vehicle is the largest variable in the test. A different model, a modified suspension, a replacement bumper or a load that shifts on impact changes the result. The clause gives the test house a repeatable preparation and gives the buyer a set of questions: which vehicle, which class, what mass, what ballast, what condition, and where is the datum point. The answers connect the rating to the threat. A 7 200 kg N3C rating does not describe what a 2 500 kg pickup will do, and a vehicle with a modified front end is not the vehicle the standard describes.

What good looks like

Record the vehicle identity and class for every test. Check the mass ticket and the ballast restraint. Check the datum point against the body type. Compare the tested vehicle with the vehicles that actually use the site. Where the site threat is a different class or a different mass, record the gap and do not present the test as covering it.

Evidence an assessor asks for

The reviewer will ask whether the vehicle in the test is the vehicle class in the threat assessment. A mismatch is a scope gap, not a paperwork gap.

• Vehicle log Make, model, category, VIN or registration, odometer and photographs of the vehicle
• Mass record Unladen mass, ballast, total test mass and axle loads, at the accuracy in Clause 6.1
• Ballast record The ballast material, its mass, its position and how it was restrained
• Datum record The vehicle datum point for the body type, marked and measured
• Condition record The vehicle condition, including any permitted load bed and any repair or modification

Where it commonly fails

• The test vehicle has a modified front end or suspension
• Ballast is placed loose in the load bed and moves on impact
• The vehicle datum point is assumed to be the bumper for every body type
• The unladen mass includes the ballast, so the reported mass is wrong

What to do before the amendment publishes

Put the vehicle log beside the threat assessment. Where the classes differ, state the limitation in the assurance statement and plan a test or a different barrier.

Read across

• 6.1 Apparatus
• 6.6 Impact speed
• 7.2 Classification code
• A-01 Test vehicle identity and class
• A-02 Test mass and ballast
• A-03 Test vehicle dimensions
• A-05 Vehicle condition and modifications

← 6.4 VSB preparation6.6 Impact speed →

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