Crashworthiness
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CrashworthinessWhat is crashworthiness? Crashworthiness refers to a vehicle’s success in protecting its occupants during an accident. This includes minimizing passenger contact with the vehicle’s interior, preventing ejection from the vehicle, and maintaining a low risk of fire. Features that can contribute to a vehicle’s crashworthiness include: · Seatbelts · Airbags · Sturdy seatbacks · Functional door latches · Side impact zones · Front and rear crumple zones · A safe fuel system Since evaluating crashworthiness does not entail investigating the cause of accidents, accident avoidance features such as anti-lock brakes are not taken into account. The only aspect of accidents applicable to crashworthiness is severity; evaluators must know what the car’s occupant protection features were up against. What types of vehicle defects lead to crashworthiness injuries? Many safety features that are standard in most motor vehicles can fall prey to defect. Examples of automobile defects include: · Seatbacks that crumple on strong impact · Door latches that open in a collision · Poor fuel tank welds · Improper placement of the fuel tank · Seatbelt rips · Seatbelt latches that come undone · Malfunctioning seatbelt retractors · Insufficiently supported roofs In cases where an automobile is found to be defective, the manufacturer may be responsible on one of three counts. The first, a manufacturing error, occurs when a vehicle is designed correctly but built incorrectly. Design error refers to cases where the designer failed to take consumer safety into account. The third way in which the manufacturer may be responsible is failure to warn. Certain design fundamental product design features may be dangerous if used improperly. Manufacturers are required to place conspicuous warnings on features such as these. Why are sport utility vehicles considered more dangerous than smaller cars? Sport utility vehicles (SUV) are particularly susceptible to rolling over in an accident. In addition, many SUVs do not provide enough support to prevent the roof from crushing inward. If a vehicle such as this rolls, the passengers are at even greater risk for head or neck injuries than they ordinarily would be. What contributes to SUV rollover? SUVs account for the vast majority of deaths in rollover accidents. This is because they have a relatively high center of gravity as compared with their width, making their propensity for tipping very high. If a driver loses control of an SUV and the wheels hit an obstruction, the likelihood is high that it will roll. |