Here's a really good article explaining Auto Safety Features....
Honda Civic and Pilot models demonstrate crumple zones in a crash test. The crumple or crush zones in their sheet-metal structure absorb and disperse crash energy to reduce an impact’s effects on the occupants.
Honda Civic and Pilot models demonstrate crumple zones in a crash test. The crumple or crush zones in their sheet-metal structure absorb and disperse crash energy to reduce an impact’s effects on the occupants. Automotive safety has come a long way from the scary days when ordinary window glass was used for windshields. Safety features - once a hard sell in the 1950s when manufacturers first attempted marketing them - have now become a key selling point.
And astonishing advances in safety have been made in recent years, thanks to the advent of low-cost electronics. A whole new lexicon of automotive terminology has evolved to describe passive and active safety features.
We’ll attempt to boil it down here to a non-techno-speak reduction that will still provide some sound informational nourishment.
Active safety features include things like electronic stability control, traction and adaptive braking systems and are covered in another article in this series.
Here we’ll look primarily at passive safety features that are standard or optional on a wide range of vehicles.
THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO CRUMPLE UP
Old-school types are fond of saying modern vehicles crumple up like discarded origami creations in a crash - and they do, on purpose. They have crumple or crush zones in their sheet-metal structure that absorb and disperse crash energy to reduce an impact’s effects on the occupants.
Stamp your foot hard on the ground, then do the same to a shoe box to see how it works. There are also side-impact or side-intrusion beams in the doors that prevent intrusion when the side of car is hit.
All vehicles sold in North America must meet minimum crash standards for front, side and rear collisions and rollovers, but it’s also true larger, heavier vehicles will generally fare better in a crash than smaller lighter ones – it’s a matter of physics. And some are better than others. The U.S.-based U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which has been scientifically crash testing vehicles since 1969, offers a star rating that’s worth taking note of.
THE NEXT LINE OF DEFENCE
Seatbelts are arguably the most valuable passive safety feature in your vehicle, holding you in place while the vehicle sacrifices itself around you. Today’s three-point belt systems remind you to wear them with warning chimes and have been improved with the addition of adjustable shoulder-belt anchors that can make wearing the belt more comfortable and effective.
Seatbelt pre-tensioners are small explosive devices that snap the belt tight after an impact. Force limiters mitigate injury from the belts themselves.
Supplemental-restraint systems is a fancy term for what we universally call airbags, which aren’t deployed in a crash by air at all, but by an inert gas. Dual stage front bags inflate based on an accident’s severity. Side airbags protect your torso in a side impact and side-curtain airbags protect the heads of front and rear seat passengers, and those with roll sensors stay inflated longer in a rollover.
Knee bags help prevent injury to lower extremities. A child restraint system known as latch (lower anchors and tether anchors for child seats) is found in all new vehicles as are child-resistant door locks.
Adjustable head rests let you locate them close to the back of your head where they are most effective. Active head restraints work by moving the head restraint forward in a rear collision to protect your neck. Anti-submaring seats stop your body from sliding out from under the belts in a frontal crash.
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE
To this basic safety kit have been added things such as tire pressure monitoring systems that keep track of tire pressure, which is important to control, braking, fuel economy and tire wear. Run flat tires can be driven on even after losing their air so you don’t have to fix a flat by the roadside. Specifically designed winter tires have rubber compounds and tread patterns designed to work effectively in a variety of harsh weather conditions.
A reversing camera system displays what’s behind you when you’re backing up and displays it on dash or rearview-mirror screen so you don’t squash anybody’s tricycle. Ford’s cross traffic alert and Chrysler’s cross path detection technology warns of vehicles you can’t see when backing out of a parking spot. Infiniti’s around view monitor has cameras that give you a 360-degree look around your vehicle.
Adaptive cruise control employs radar to automatically adjust speed and slow the vehicle to maintain a set distance between the vehicle ahead. Many find this annoying. But a collision-warning system can detect when a vehicle ahead is stopping suddenly and warn you with a flashing light and an alarm while priming the brakes for instant action. Volvo offers an in-city slow speed version that actually applies the brakes to stop a fender bender.
Mercedes-Benz is offering attention assist, which can detect when a driver is getting drowsy and warn him or her to pay attention. A crash-alert system will notify a central communications centre if you’ve had an airbag-deploying crash, and some systems also turn on the four-way flashers and sound the horn.
Adaptive headlamps actually swivel, as you round curves, giving you an earlier look at what’s lurking in the dark. Xenon or high-intensity discharge headlamps provide a clear white light projected out to greater distances for earlier detection of things in your path. And if it’s pouring, rain-sensing wipers detect water on the windshield and activate automatically.
Smart keys can automatically unlock your car and let you start it with the push of a button and be programmed to limit power available to an inexperienced teenage driver.
Head-up displays project information about vehicle speed and warning lights up into your lower line of vision on the windshield, but can also display infra-red generated images of objects in your path.
Heated side mirrors will make for safer passing and merging and if you haven’t adjusted them correctly and blind-spot warning sensors can detect a vehicle you can’t see and alert you with a flashing light, or in BMW’s case, a vibrating steering wheel. A lane-departure warning system makes you aware your car is drifting out of its lane.
Bluetooth is an in-car wireless communications facilitator that can allow the use of a variety of voice-activated or hands-free devices, reducing driver distraction.
A battery-saver program built into your car’s electrical grid may not seem like a safety device, but it can keep your battery from going flat and stranding you in a winter parking lot.
Different manufacturers offer some or all of these systems either as standard or as options.
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