Transcript Slide 1

Crumple Zones
•An engineer at Mercedes, came up
with a safety concept that would
completely change how cars were
designed and built
•. Prior to 1959, people believed the
stronger the structure, the safer the
car. But in actuality, such construction
proved deadly to passengers, because
the force from impact went straight
inside the vehicle and onto the
passenger. In the end, he designed
two "crumple zones" -- one in the
front of a car and one in the back.
• Crumple zones relied on a skeletal
frame of special materials that would
crumple in predictable ways,
absorbing the energy of a collision.
Seat Belts
• The seat belt was
introduced in 1949 by Nash
Motors, but it was not until
the mid-1950s that most
automakers began offering
seat belts as optional safety
features.
• These safety belts crossed
over a passenger's lap,
securing him or her to the
seat in order to prevent a
collision with the
dashboard, steering wheel,
or windshield in an
accident.
• While the seat belt vastly
improved a passenger's
safety, it remained far from
perfect, and nasty head,
spinal, and other injuries
continued to occur.
A seatbelt on a roller coaster
•The simplest sort of
seatbelt, found in some
roller coasters, consists
of a length of webbing
bolted to the body of
the vehicle. These belts
hold you tightly against
the seat at all times,
which is very safe but
not particularly
comfortable.
Air Bags
•Hetrick's airbag concept was seen
by many as the ultimate passive
restraint, even though
manufacturing safe airbags would
clearly be an enormous challenge
• Engineers had to determine how
big the bag should be, what
, engineers and safety experts determined what was needed to make the airbag a successful safety feature.
materials should be used in it, and
how to inflate it within 30
milliseconds after impact without
blowing it apart.
•These challenges were met,
however, and by 1980, Mercedes
began offering airbags as standard
equipment. Eight years later, all U.S.
car manufacturers were required to
follow suit.