Vehicle Safety: Today and the Future (Audi takes the lead.)

George Fusner

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 630

1 CommentPrint ArticleSubscribe

It was 50 years ago the three point safety harness (also known as the seat belt) was invented, and pioneers in the industry have been working to make a safer vehicle ever since. I’ve already talked about radar cruise control, so I thought instead I’d go through a recent Audi press release concerning their high-tech new safety features found in some of their vehicles. Features include:

• Ø Adaptive restraint system – Front end crashes were once extremely deadly. Thanks to the safety advances over the last 50 years, that’s no longer the case. However, while airbags and seat belt locking mechanisms are effective in mitigating the impact of a high speed collision, they can sometimes do more harm than good in slower accidents. The force of the airbag can sometimes be so strong that it injures the person unnecessarily. The adaptive restraint system is a broad term where the seat belts and airbags act responsively to the impact of the crash, so that in a lighter crash, air bag deployment is only as powerful as it needs to be – preventing injury from the crash itself along with the airbag deployment.
• Ø Airbag Valves – when the airbags are deployed in a low to moderate speed accident, small valves on the backside of an airbag will allow the airbag to “deflate,” only as much as necessary, to prevent too much force striking the passengers.
• Ø Belt force limiter – in a moderate crash, a lighter person in a traditional vehicle may be subject to a thorax injury because the passenger’s body does not reach the airbag. Audi’s system will intelligently disengage if necessary to allow the passenger’s body to reach the airbag, which will reduce the chance for injury. In an extreme accident, though, the system will not disengage – which is a good thing.
• Ø Seat position memory – to go along with the adaptive restraint system, the Audi’s computer knows the location of the seat on its rails, whether close up or far away from the steering wheel. Accordingly, it uses this data to help the adaptive restraint system work more effectively.

These are amazing features – but this isn’t an advertisement for Audi. (I watched the Audi race cars at Road Atlanta at the Petit Le Mans several weeks ago and have to admit some prejudice.) Other competitors in the Audi’s price range offer similar features. The real question is how long will this take until it reaches more masses – that is, when will moderately priced vehicles such as the Toyota Camry, or the Honda Accord, get these technologies? Even further than that, how long until the Hyundai Accent and Chevrolet Aveo have these features? The technology is here. Manufactureres have no excusses, use it.