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Vehicle Safety A Growing Concern

By Karl Brauer

Vehicle safety concerns have come a long way in the last two decades. Research indicates that while few new car buyers thought about vehicle safety twenty years ago, today's car (and truck) shoppers put passenger safety among the top three concerns when buying a new automobile. Swelling SUV sales are further proof that Americans want to feel safe when out on the road.

auto Safety A Major Concern Manufacturers, realizing that safety sells, have been quick to incorporate the latest in technological wizardry as a means of protecting potential customers. While ABS, airbags, and traction control have become almost standard issue on today's new cars, certain companies continue to push the safety envelope. Not surprisingly, these are the same manufacturers who have always led the field in safe travel.

BMW fired the first shots in what I will refer to as the escalating "Head Safety War" when the company introduced its HPS or "head protection system" on the 1997 740iL and 750iL models. Accident research indicates that 50% of side impacts result in severe injury with 43% of those cases involving head trauma. Originally designed for use in military helicopters, the HPS utilizes an inflatable tubular structure anchored to the A-pillar. When a side impact occurs, the airbag-like diaphragm inflates, exploding out of the headliner to form a soft tube between the front occupants' head and the metal roof rail. The whole process takes about .025 seconds.

The system has been favorably reviewed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and even won a "Best of What's New" Award from Popular Science magazine. BMW expanded the HPS to all of its 5 and 7 series models for 1998 and plans to eventually offer it in every car wearing a blue-and-white badge.

Following closely on the heels of BMW's HPS is the Saab SAHR or "Saab Active Head Restraint" system. It was first unveiled in 1996 but didn't make it into a production vehicle until 1999, when it appeared on the 9-5 sedan. Unlike the HPS system, which uses an inflatable air bag to protect passengers in a side impact, the SAHR offers whiplash protection in the event of a rear-end collision. It works by pivoting the seat's headrests upward and forward when a sensor inside the seat detects a rear impact of sufficient force (about 9 mph and above). An interesting aspect of the SAHR is its ability to vary the speed of the headrest movement based on the weight of each passenger. It also resets itself after deployment and typically requires no repair or servicing.

Finally, you certainly can't have a discussion on vehicle safety without mentioning the company that made a successful advertising campaign out of it (remember those great "car-runs-off-raised-platform-and-smashes-into-cement below" commercials?). Volvo, in an attempt to one-up BMW, is touting a new VIC (Volvo Inflatable Curtain) system that literally drapes a curtain of inflatable cushions around the passenger area. The deployment occurs .025 thousands of a second after impact and benefits all passengers over 47.3 inches tall. The system has yet to appear on a production vehicle but, when it does, it will work in conjunction with the company's Side-Impact Protection System to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries from side impacts.

While BMW, Saab, and Volvo are the only automotive manufacturers to seriously address this level of safety in their production cars, you can bet that eventually every manufacturer will be drawn into the "Head Safety War" as well. Sound hard to believe? Well, remember that ABS, air bags, and traction control used to be considered high-end only safety features, too.

If you're looking for more information on BMW (www.bmw.com) Saab (saabusa.com) or Volvo (volvocars.com) check out the companies' websites. If you're looking for general information on the latest vehicle safety innovations, surf over to the Society of Automotive Engineers site at sae.org where you can browse through the latest in automotive technology.