A knee bolster installation for an automotive vehicle includes a bridge plat e extending across a space receiving a steering column in front of the driver' s knee or a glove box in front of a passenger's knees and having a knee impact absorber structure attached behind each end of the bridge plate. Each knee impact absorber structure has diverging front and back walls having a curved top wall and curved intermediate web extending between the front and back walls, and a curved bottom wall connecting the lower end of front and back walls together. A stabilizer web connects the top wall and intermediate web together to restrain bulging when crushed to avoid collapse thereof during deformation. The knee installation absorber structures are either extruded a nd the openings thereafter cut, or formed from a flat strip of material into which openings are cut prior to forming the strip.