Car Safety Essay Research Paper Autorelated deaths

Car Safety Essay, Research Paper

Auto-related deaths and injuries place a stain on society. In addition to causing grief and suffering, vehicle crashes add billions to the cost of health care and vehicle insurance. Buying a safer car can help consumers confidently identify the safest vehicles. Each year about 40,000 Americans lose their lives in motor vehicle collisions. This means that one in 8.5 drivers are involved in an automobile collision and one out of nine hospital beds are occupied by a victim of an auto-related incident. Despite these statistics, the rate of traffic deaths per million miles driven is steadily declining. Safer cars get partial credit for the encouraging trend. Each new model must meet safety standards set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. As the car-buying public becomes interested in safety, manufacturers are offering automotive safety features beyond NHTSA s minimum requirements. It however is not yet required by law, features such as dual air bags increase a vehicle s sale appeal.

Safety is divided into three categories: the size and weight of a vehicle, passive safety features that help people stay alive and uninjured in a crash, and active safety features that help drivers avoid accidents. Larger, heavier cars with poor ratings many easily produce better results than smaller cars with good ratings. In addition to a car that crashes well (passive safety), you should look for a car that can avoid a crash altogether (active safety). Keep in mind that all of this testing was done with test dummies wearing seat belts and shoulder harnesses. Without them, a 15 mile per hour crash could prove fatal. All cars must meet US Department Of Transportation standards for crash-worthiness. Larger and heavier cars, however, are usually safer in a collision than smaller ones. In relation to their numbers on the road, small cars amount for more than twice as many deaths as large cars. If a heavier vehicle collides head-on with a lighter one, the lighter vehicle and its occupants will suffer substantially more damage.

Passive safety features help drivers and passengers stay alive an uninjured in a crash. Size is a passive safety feature: bigger is safer. In relation to their numbers on the road, small cars account for more than twice as many deaths as large cars. In the past few years significant accident-avoidance and safety systems have been introduced on many automobiles. ABS brakes, traction control, electronic stability control, night vision, and automatic cruise control are some of the electronic miracles that assist unavoidable no matter how skilled a driver may be. Recent deadly 100-car pileups in the United States, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy, and Germany demonstrate that crash survivability must not be taken for granted.

Since 1979, NHTSA has been crash-testing through its New Car Assessment Program. Crash-test results determine how well vehicles protect belted drivers and front-seat passengers during a frontal collision. During the crash test, dummies are placed in driver and front passenger seats. Instruments measure the force of impact to each dummy s head, chest, and legs. Test use all available restraints. Federal safety standards require all passenger cars meet injury criteria measured in a 30 mph frontal crash. NCAP tests are conducted at 35 mph to make the difference between vehicles more apparent. Test simulate damage equivalent to a head-on collision between two identical vehicles, each moving at 35 mph. This is the same as vehicle moving at 70 mph striking an identical parked vehicle.

Virtually all new cars have air bags, and they are saving lives. They are reducing driver deaths by about 14 percent, and passenger bags reduce deaths by about 11 percent. Air bags instantly inflate in frontal crashes at speeds as low as 15 mph. They are designed to prevent occupants from hitting the dashboard, steering wheel or windshield. Driver and front passenger air bags will be standard equipment in all model year 1998 cars and all model year 1999 light trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles. Many vehicles are already equipped with this feature. Front air bags do not eliminate the need for safety belts and they offer no protection in rollovers, rear or side impacts. Safety belts help keep you in place should a collision occur. The problem of serious inflation injuries is not going to be with us forever. Most 1998 models have redesigned air bags, and future air bag technologies will reduce the risk even among people who have moved forward before air bags inflate. Sensors will detect rear-facing restraints and automatically switch off passenger bags. Inflation rates will be tailored to crash severity. More advanced air bags could recognize people s positions just before inflating and reduce the force if someone is in position to be harmed.

Because front air bags do not eliminate the strong need for safety belts, it is important to know that safety belts are the best protection in a crash. They prevent you from colliding with the dash or windshield and hold you inside the vehicle. Safety belts are most effective if adjusted properly, whether manual or automatic. All safety belts should be pulled tightly across the pelvis. Some systems also offer adjustable anchors that change the height of the shoulder strap to improve belt fit. Seat belts and airbags work together in a collision. The combination o