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Airbags
Bags placed around the cabin, usually tucked into panels in the dashboard or within the steering wheel, which rapidly inflate with nitrogen gas to provide a cushion between you and the car's hard surfaces in a crash.
Some manufacturers are now offering curtain airbags - full-length airbags that inflate from the car's roof to protect the heads of people in the front and back or the car - in addition to window airbags, knee-protecting airbags and even airbags within seatbelts.
A number of carmakers experimented with the idea in the 60s and 70s, but the Americans abandoned development after a fatal accident involving an airbag in 1974. It took until 1980 for the first airbag to be fitted in a mainstream production car, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
Airbags are said to have saved over 14,200 lives in the US during 1987-2005 and 2,500 lives in Germany alone since 1990.
Bags placed around the cabin, usually tucked into panels in the dashboard or within the steering wheel, which rapidly inflate with nitrogen gas to provide a cushion between you and the car's hard surfaces in a crash.
Some manufacturers are now offering curtain airbags - full-length airbags that inflate from the car's roof to protect the heads of people in the front and back or the car - in addition to window airbags, knee-protecting airbags and even airbags within seatbelts.
A number of carmakers experimented with the idea in the 60s and 70s, but the Americans abandoned development after a fatal accident involving an airbag in 1974. It took until 1980 for the first airbag to be fitted in a mainstream production car, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
Airbags are said to have saved over 14,200 lives in the US during 1987-2005 and 2,500 lives in Germany alone since 1990.
Power-assisted brakes
Aka servo-assisted brakes, or brake boosters: a necessary addition to a disc braking system to reduce the need for sustained pedal pressure.
First fitted on the 1926 Pierce-Arrow, it is a simple and highly-effective device using a vacuum pump and piston, brake servos are so good that companies such as Bristol were extolling their superiority over new-fangled ABS until the EU regulators intervened.
Aka servo-assisted brakes, or brake boosters: a necessary addition to a disc braking system to reduce the need for sustained pedal pressure.
First fitted on the 1926 Pierce-Arrow, it is a simple and highly-effective device using a vacuum pump and piston, brake servos are so good that companies such as Bristol were extolling their superiority over new-fangled ABS until the EU regulators intervened.
Pop-up bonnets
Automotive safety legislators are now widening their remit; not only must the carmakers take measures to ensure that a car's occupants are well-protected in the event of an impact, but they now also have to try and limit the damage a car can cause to other vulnerable road-users.
Pedestrian safety measures have already seen the banning of so-called 'bull bars' on the front of 4x4s, at least in Europe, and manufacturers have had to redesign front bumpers and bonnets to meet the latest legislation; bad news for designers seeking a purity of profile, but good news for anyone unfortunate enough to get themselves run over.
'Active' pop-up bonnets are being fitted on certain new models: these have sensors to detect an impact and activate a pyrotechnical device - similar to that in an airbag - to raise part of the car's bonnet. This protects against a person hitting the hard, immovable edges over the engine, deflecting them onto a softer, yielding part of the bonnet panel instead. Honda claims that its system - standard in the new Legend - can reduce the severity of injuries by around 40%; Jaguar reckons the risk of head injuries is much-reduced by the pop-up bonnet of the new XK; and the Citroen C6 has been rewarded with the first four-star score in Euro NCAP's pedestrian safety tests. Expect more manufacturers to follow suit shortly.
Automotive safety legislators are now widening their remit; not only must the carmakers take measures to ensure that a car's occupants are well-protected in the event of an impact, but they now also have to try and limit the damage a car can cause to other vulnerable road-users.
Pedestrian safety measures have already seen the banning of so-called 'bull bars' on the front of 4x4s, at least in Europe, and manufacturers have had to redesign front bumpers and bonnets to meet the latest legislation; bad news for designers seeking a purity of profile, but good news for anyone unfortunate enough to get themselves run over.
'Active' pop-up bonnets are being fitted on certain new models: these have sensors to detect an impact and activate a pyrotechnical device - similar to that in an airbag - to raise part of the car's bonnet. This protects against a person hitting the hard, immovable edges over the engine, deflecting them onto a softer, yielding part of the bonnet panel instead. Honda claims that its system - standard in the new Legend - can reduce the severity of injuries by around 40%; Jaguar reckons the risk of head injuries is much-reduced by the pop-up bonnet of the new XK; and the Citroen C6 has been rewarded with the first four-star score in Euro NCAP's pedestrian safety tests. Expect more manufacturers to follow suit shortly.
Seatbelts
Clunk, click, every trip. The seatbelt is a life-saver – no question. In the event of an accident, it holds the car's occupants in place; most rollover deaths still occurring involve people who have not worn their seatbelts and hideous accidents have resulted from unbelted rear-seat passengers being catapulted forwards into those in front. Belt up: no excuses.
Although basic lap belts had been around since the dawn of motoring, they were crude and even caused injuries (early motorists argued that you were better off being thrown clear from the vehicle, especially if it was liable to blow up in flames). Swedish inventor Nils Bohlin came up with the altogether superior three-point belt, fitted to the Volvo 121 Amazon in 1959 – the first car to have front-seat three-point belts as standard. Bohlin's design has changed little, though pre-tensioning reels followed, along with load-limiters, to reduce the sheer force applied by the belt in an impact. Volvo also introduced the first flashing seatbelt reminder lights (1972), although the Range Rover (1977) had the first seatbelts integrated into the seat itself.
Clunk, click, every trip. The seatbelt is a life-saver – no question. In the event of an accident, it holds the car's occupants in place; most rollover deaths still occurring involve people who have not worn their seatbelts and hideous accidents have resulted from unbelted rear-seat passengers being catapulted forwards into those in front. Belt up: no excuses.
Although basic lap belts had been around since the dawn of motoring, they were crude and even caused injuries (early motorists argued that you were better off being thrown clear from the vehicle, especially if it was liable to blow up in flames). Swedish inventor Nils Bohlin came up with the altogether superior three-point belt, fitted to the Volvo 121 Amazon in 1959 – the first car to have front-seat three-point belts as standard. Bohlin's design has changed little, though pre-tensioning reels followed, along with load-limiters, to reduce the sheer force applied by the belt in an impact. Volvo also introduced the first flashing seatbelt reminder lights (1972), although the Range Rover (1977) had the first seatbelts integrated into the seat itself.
Side-impact beams
In the 60s, deaths and serious injuries were most likely in front-on impacts, but the casualty rate in side-impact accidents was not far behind. By the early 70s, legislators in the US and Europe ruled that strengthening beams or bars should be fitted on the inside of car doors to prevent them crumpling in the event of a crash: in the early 80s, it was estimated that nearly 500 lives a year were saved by these in the US alone and nearly 10,000 serious injuries averted.
Safety-conscious carmakers such as Saab, Volvo, Mercedes and Volkswagen-Audi pioneered the integration of side impact beans into holistic structures, aided by early computer-aided design and crash-simulating technology, which also included the development of so-called 'crumple zones' and 'safety cells', as well as collapsible steering columns and pedal assemblies, all designed to divert panels, intrusive objects and harmful components to crush away from a car's occupants.
In the 60s, deaths and serious injuries were most likely in front-on impacts, but the casualty rate in side-impact accidents was not far behind. By the early 70s, legislators in the US and Europe ruled that strengthening beams or bars should be fitted on the inside of car doors to prevent them crumpling in the event of a crash: in the early 80s, it was estimated that nearly 500 lives a year were saved by these in the US alone and nearly 10,000 serious injuries averted.
Safety-conscious carmakers such as Saab, Volvo, Mercedes and Volkswagen-Audi pioneered the integration of side impact beans into holistic structures, aided by early computer-aided design and crash-simulating technology, which also included the development of so-called 'crumple zones' and 'safety cells', as well as collapsible steering columns and pedal assemblies, all designed to divert panels, intrusive objects and harmful components to crush away from a car's occupants.
