The study focused on the validation of the 50th percentile male model — a detailed FE model of the thoracic segment of the human body developed within project Development of a Finite Element Model of the Human Thorax and Upper Extremities (THOMO) co-funded by the European Commission (7 th Framework Programme). The model response was tested in three impact scenarios:  frontal, lateral and oblique. The resulting impactor contact force vs. time and chest deflection vs. time responses were compared with experimental results. The strain profile of the 5th rib was  checked with lateral and oblique strain profiles from post-mortem human subject (PMHS) experiments. The influence of heart and lungs on the mechanical response of the model was assessed and  the material data configuration, giving the most biofidelic thorax behaviour, was identified.