Automotive safety
Automotive safety is the study and practice of automotive design, construction, equipment and regulation to minimize the occurrence and consequences of traffic collisions involving motor vehicles. Road traffic safety more broadly includes roadway design.
"Passive safety" and "ETSC" redirect here. For nuclear safety, see Passive nuclear safety. For the former East Texas State College, see Texas A&M University–Commerce.
One of the first formal academic studies into improving motor vehicle safety was by Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory of Buffalo, New York. The main conclusion of their extensive report is the crucial importance of seat belts and padded dashboards.[1] However, the primary vector of traffic-related deaths and injuries is the disproportionate mass and velocity of an automobile compared to that of the predominant victim, the pedestrian.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80% of cars sold in the world are not compliant with main safety standards. Only 40 countries have adopted the full set of the seven most important regulations for car safety.[2]
In the United States, a pedestrian is injured by a motor vehicle every 8 minutes, and are 1.5 times more likely than a vehicle's occupants to be killed in a motor vehicle crash per outing.[3]
Improvements in roadway and motor vehicle designs have steadily reduced injury and death rates in all first world countries. Nevertheless, auto collisions are the leading cause of injury-related deaths, an estimated total of 1.2 million in 2004, or 25% of the total from all causes. Of those killed by autos, nearly two-thirds are pedestrians.[4] Risk compensation theory has been used in arguments against safety devices, regulations and modifications of vehicles despite the efficacy of saving lives.[5]
Coalitions to promote road and automotive safety, such as Together for Safer Roads (TSR), brings together global private sector companies, across industries, to collaborate on improving road safety. TSR brings together members' knowledge, data, technology, and global networks to focus on five road safety areas that will make an impact globally and within local communities.[6]
The rising trend of autonomous things is largely driven by the move towards the autonomous car, that both addresses the main existing safety issues and creates new issues. The autonomous car is expected to be safer than existing vehicles, by eliminating the single most dangerous element - the driver. The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School claims that "Some ninety percent of motor vehicle crashes are caused at least in part by human error".[7] But while safety standards like the ISO 26262 specify the required safety, it is still a burden on the industry to demonstrate acceptable safety.
History[edit]
18th century–19th century[edit]
Automotive safety may have become an issue almost from the beginning of mechanised road vehicle development. The second steam-powered "Fardier" (artillery tractor), created by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1771, is reported by some to have crashed into a wall during its demonstration run. However, according to Georges Ageon,[22] the earliest mention of this occurrence dates from 1801 and it does not feature in contemporary accounts. One of the earliest recorded car-related fatalities was Mary Ward, on August 31, 1869, in Parsonstown, Ireland.[23]
1920s[edit]
In 1922, the Duesenburg Model A became the first car to have four-wheel hydraulic brakes.[24]
1930s[edit]
In 1930, safety glass became standard on all Ford cars.[25] In the 1930s, plastic surgeon Claire L. Straith and physician C. J. Strickland advocated the use of seat belts and padded dashboards. Strickland founded the Automobile Safety League of America.[26][27]
In 1934, GM performed the first barrier crash test.[28]
In 1936, the Hudson Terraplane came with the first back-up brake system. Should the hydraulic brakes fail, the brake pedal would activate a set of mechanical brakes for the back wheels.[29][30]
In 1937, Chrysler, Plymouth, DeSoto, and Dodge added such items as a flat, smooth dash with recessed controls, rounded door handles, a windshield wiper control made of rubber, and the back of the front
seat heavily padded to provide protection for rear passengers.[31][32][33][34][35][36]
1940s[edit]
In 1942, Hugh DeHaven published the classic Mechanical analysis of survival in falls from heights of fifty to one hundred and fifty feet.[37]
In 1947, the American Tucker was built with the world's first padded dashboard. It also came with middle headlight that turned with the steering wheel, a front steel bulkhead, and a front safety chamber.[38]
In 1949, SAAB incorporated aircraft safety thinking into automobiles making the Saab 92 the first production SAAB car with a safety cage.[39]
Also in 1949, the Chrysler Imperial Crown was the first car to come with standard disc brakes.[40][41]
1950s[edit]
In 1955, a USAF surgeon who advised the US Surgeon General wrote an article on how to make cars safer for those riding in it. Aside from the usual safety features, such as seat belts and padded dashboards, bumper shocks were introduced.[42]
In 1956, Ford tried unsuccessfully to interest Americans in purchasing safer cars with their Lifeguard safety package. (Its attempt nevertheless earns Ford Motor Trend's "Car of the Year" award for 1956.)[43]
In 1958, the United Nations established the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, an international standards body advancing auto safety. Many of the most life saving safety innovations, like seat belts and roll cage construction were brought to market under its auspices. That same year, Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin invented and patented the three-point lap and shoulder seat belt, which became standard equipment on all Volvo cars in 1959.[44] Over the next several decades, three-point safety belts were gradually mandated in all vehicles by regulators throughout the industrialised world.
In 1959, American Motors Corporation offered the first optional head rests for the front seat.[45] Also in 1959, the Cadillac Cyclone concept by Harley Earl had "a radar-based crash-avoidance system" located in the on the nose cones of the vehicle that would make audible and visual signals to the driver if there were obstacles in the vehicle's path.[46]
1960s[edit]
Effective on new passenger cars sold in the United States after January 1, 1964. front outboard lap belts were required.
On September 9, 1966, the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act became law in the U.S., the first mandatory federal safety standards for motor vehicles.[47]
Effective in 1966, US-market passenger cars were required to be equipped with padded instrument panels, front and rear outboard lap belts, and white reverse (backup) lamps.
In 1966, the U.S. established the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) with automobile safety as one of its purposes. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was created as an independent organization on April 1, 1967, but was reliant on the DOT for administration and funding. However, in 1975 the organization was made completely independent by the Independent Safety Board Act (in P.L. 93-633; 49 U.S.C. 1901).
In 1967, equipment specifications by such major fleet purchasers as the City and County of Los Angeles, California, encouraged the voluntary installation in most new cars sold in the US of safety devices, systems, and design features including:[48]
Issues for particular demographic groups[edit]
Women[edit]
The domain of automotive design has been traditionally characterized as male-dominated.[88] As a result there has been a lack of female automotive designers in the area of automotive safety compared to male automotive designers. This leads to oversights in automotive safety and ergonomics for female consumers, who make up 62% of all new cars sold in the USA.[89] According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS),[90] women are less likely to get into a crash than men are. However, women are 17% more likely to die in a car crash and 73% more likely to sustain serious injuries from a crash when compared to men.[91] In rear-end collisions, female drivers face a higher risk of whiplash injuries when compared to their male counterparts due to their lighter weight which causes them to be propelled forward more rapidly.[92]
When pregnant, women should continue to use seatbelts and airbags properly. A University of Michigan study found that "unrestrained or improperly restrained pregnant women are 5.7 times more likely to have an adverse fetal outcome than properly restrained pregnant women".[93] If seatbelts are not long enough, extensions are available from the car manufacturer or an aftermarket supplier.
Infants and children[edit]
Children present significant challenges in engineering and producing safe vehicles, because most children are significantly smaller and lighter than most adults. Additionally, children far from being just scaled down adults, still have an undeveloped skeletal system. This means that vehicle restraint systems such as airbags and seat belts, far from being effective, are hazardous if used to restrain young children. In recognition of this, many medical professionals and jurisdictions recommend or require that children under a particular age, height, and/or weight ride in a child seat and/or in the back seat, as applicable.
Within Europe ECE Regulation R44 dictates that children below 150 cm must travel in a child restraint that is appropriate for their weight. Each country have their own adaptions of this Regulation. For instance, in the United Kingdom, children must travel in a child restraint until they are 135 cm tall or reach 12 years of age, which ever comes soonest. As another example, in Austria, the driver of passenger vehicles is responsible for people shorter than 150 cm and below 14 years to be seated in an adequate child safety seat. Moreover, it is not allowed for children below the age of 3 to ride in a passenger vehicle without "security system" (which in practice means the vehicle is not equipped with any seat belts or technical systems like Isofix), whereas children between 3 and 14 years have to ride in the back seat.[94]
Sweden specify that a child or an adult shorter than 140 cm is legally forbidden to ride in a place with an active airbag in front of it.
The majority of medical professionals and biomechanical engineers agree that children below the age of two years old are much safer if they travel in a rearward facing child restraint.[95]
Child safety locks and driver-controlled power window lockout controls prevent children from opening doors and windows from inside the vehicle.