National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 16303:2020+A1:2026. It supersedes BS EN 16303:2020, which is withdrawn.

The start and finish of text introduced or altered by amendment is indicated in the text by tags. Tags indicating changes to CEN text carry the number of the CEN amendment. For example, text altered by CEN amendment A1 is indicated by .

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee B/509/1, Road restraint systems.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 August 2020.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 24 May 2020 and includes Amendment 1 approved by CEN on 31 August 2026.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (EN 16303:2020+A1:2026) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 226 “Road equipment”, the secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by April 2027, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by April 2027.

This document includes Amendment 1 approved by CEN on 31 August 2026.

This document supersedes EN 16303:2020.

The start and finish of text introduced or altered by amendment is indicated in the text by tags .

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Deleted paragraphs

Annexes A, B, C and K are normative and Annexes D to J are informative.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Introduction

This document provides a common basis for the use of virtual testing to reproduce vehicle impacts against vehicle restraint systems including safety barriers, crash cushions, terminals and passive safety devices in accordance with EN 1317‑1:2010, EN 1317‑2:2010, EN 1317‑3:2010, CEN/TS 1317‑7:2023 and EN 12767:2019+A1:2024.

This document provides requirements to establish the degree to which the numerical models of vehicle restraint system and of vehicle are an accurate representation of the real world from the perspective of the intended uses of the model.

In this document a methodology is defined to validate the results obtained with computational mechanics work and to verify the reliability of the virtual test. It also includes a report template and incorporates specific content for general requirements for the competence of entities performing virtual testing.

General recommendations based on experiences for developing numerical models of vehicle restraint systems and vehicles for virtual tests are also given.

Two main modelling approaches have been considered:

finite element (FE) method;
multi-body (MB) approach.

1 Scope1

This document defines the accuracy, credibility and confidence in the results of virtual crash test to vehicle restraint systems through the definition of procedures for verification, validation and development of numerical models for roadside safety application. Finally it defines a list of indications to ensure the competences of an expert/organization in the domain of virtual testing.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Symbols and abbreviations

5 Requirements for numerical vehicle model

5.1 Modelling

5.2 General vehicle model behaviour assessment

5.3 Test methodology

5.4 Verification

5.5 Reporting

6 Requirements for numerical model of vehicle restraint system

6.1 Modelling

6.2 Validation and verification

6.3 Reporting

7 Requirements for numerical model of passive safety device

7.1 Modelling

7.2 Validation and verification

7.3 Reporting

8 Requirements for validation of virtual testing against test item

8.1 General

8.2 Test specifications

8.3 Comparison tables

8.4 Reporting

9 Requirements for verification of virtual testing against vehicle restraint systems and passive safety devices

9.1 General

9.2 Finite element model verification

9.3 Multi-body model verification

9.4 Standard report and output parameters

Bibliography