A pedestrian protection headlamp assembly

A pedestrian protection headlamp assembly 20 for a motor vehicle 10 is disclosed which allows a headlamp 24 to yield rearward in a controlled, energy-absorbing manner in order to cushion the impact experienced by a pedestrian struck by the vehicle 10. The headlamp assembly comprises the headlamp 24 mountable to the vehicle to form a front corner of the vehicle, a pivot mechanism 30 disposed adjacent an outboard end of the headlamp 24 for mounting the headlamp 24 to the vehicle and a damper 36 disposed inboard of the pivot mechanism 30. When a pedestrian strikes the headlamp, the damper 36 compresses and allows controlled rearward movement of the inboard end of the headlamp 24 as the headlamp rotates about the pivot mechanism 30. A trigger 38 prevents rotation of the headlamp about the pivot mechanism 30 when the force applied to the headlamp 24 is below a threshold value but releases to permit the headlamp 24 to rotate rearward when the force applied exceeds the threshold value.