09 Jul 07
Top priority is to stop occupants or pedestrians being hit by the engine
During a collision the first thing to happen in the cabin is that the shoulder pretensioner removes any slack in the seatblet, to stop the occupant being bounced around. Then the lap pretensioner comes into play, limiting the pelvic excursion (which isn't as much fun as it sounds). Then the strength of the seat really counts, preventing the occupant from moving forward, with the airbag absorbing any remaining energy; and the steering column collapses. All of this is timed to the millisecond and measured to the millimetre. And that's how you get 36.83 out of 37 points.
So, how do you follow that? First of all by aiming to get the rest of the Qashqai's crash test performance up to the same high standard: it got four out of five for child occupant protection and fell just short of three (out of four) stars for pedestrian protection. That's a particularly sensitive area for SUVs and SUV-style crossovers like the Qashqai. Nakamura says 'reduced aggression to others' is currently the subject of much study and rapid learning.
Like other manufactures, Nissan is working on - or has already put into production - increasingly sophisticated traction, stability and anti-lock brake systems, as well as cruise control that can keep you a safe distance from the car in front, and lane departure warning and prevention schemes.
Nissan is also developing car-to-car information systems that alert other road users to problems and even a system of tagging children to help cars locate and avoid them at tricky junctions. How's about that then?
