Tokyo - The Japanese carmaker Honda has announced measures to improve pedestrian safety with a new generation of crash test dummies aimed at reducing pedestrian lower back and upper leg injuries.

The car maker said the Polar III dummy improved the evaluation of the injuries common in collisions between pedestrians and taller vehicles such as SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicle) or minivans.

In 1998, Honda was the first car maker to develop a pedestrian crash test dummy to help identify parts of the vehicle most often causing injuries in collisions with pedestrians.

The results of the test, aimed especially at reducing head injuries, were applied to the HR-V and later to all models sold in Japan. (dpa)