Global push for tougher crash tests sparks safer car designs and smarter accident prevention tech.
The design of vehicles, encompassing their dimensions, form, and software, significantly impacts the safety of their occupants, pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users.The answer lies in the staggering figure of 42,514 deaths from motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2022, which highlights the importance of safety systems in automobiles.
The design of vehicles, encompassing their dimensions, form, and software, significantly impacts the safety of their occupants, pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users. Since the 1960s, when car crash tests were first conducted, legislation and consumer pressure have increasingly forced automakers to prioritize safety and survivability in their designs. Recently, multiple New Car Assessment Programmes worldwide have ensured new cars launched in their respective markets are tested to provide accurate technical reports on their crashworthiness.One of the pioneers in this domain is the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute , an American nonprofit, independent organization renowned for its vehicle safety reviews. Founded in 1959, IIHS-HLDI evaluates the effectiveness of a vehicle’s structural integrity and safety systems during collisions through various simulated traffic situations and examines improvements in these elements. Since the mid-1960s, seatbelts have become standard US and European car equipment. But it wasn’t until 15 years later that they were mandated to be worn while driving. It is estimated that around 500,000 lives have been saved in the US due to something as basic as occupants wearing seatbelts since then. Since the 1970s, carmakers have begun incorporating safety measures into the design stages of new cars, following countries instituting their own vehicle safety testing processes to reduce fatalities on the road. Aiming to raise awareness of safety standards among manufacturers and car buyers, the IIHS started conducting car crash tests in 1995 to educate manufacturers about the importance of incorporating safety measures. Crashworthiness refers to how well a car protects its occupants in an accident. Crash avoidance and mitigation, which involve technology designed to prevent a crash or reduce its severity, are the two safety areas assessed in IIHS tests. The former are called passive systems, while the latter are called active systems.evaluation test. It was a 40 mph frontal crash test, and it was very different from what the US federal government was doing, which was a crash test into a flat, rigid wall,” said Raul Arbelaez, vice president at the vehicle research center at IIHS, in an interview with IE. Since moving vehicles do not commonly have a full head-on crash, IIHS challenged vehicle structures with a more commonly seen offset crash test in which 40 percent of vehicles are made to come in contact with a barrier at 40 mph. The tests showed that structural components like the door opening collapsing around the occupants in the event of an impact and the pedals, like the accelerator and brake, intruding on the driver’s footwell area significantly injured the lower part ofIIHS claims that since it started rating vehicles, within a decade, it could see a considerable difference in the vehicle structure of new cars engineered to dissipate the energy, which were engineered to dissipate the energy around the occupants, making the passenger shell more stable. In the same, automakers across the spectrum began introducing airbags to further reduce injuries to occupants. Since the 1999 model year, the US federal government has required automakers to install driver and passenger airbags for frontal impact protection in all cars, light trucks, and vans. Front airbags are designed to inflate in moderate-to-severe frontal crashes to prevent a person’s head and chest from contacting hard structures in the vehicle. In the early 2000s, crash evaluations began to include side impact tests as part of a campaign for advanced safety systems. This resulted in manufacturers strengthening the vehicles’ sides and introducing side airbags to reduce impacts from the sides. Starting with the 2014 model year, virtually all new passenger vehicles in the US had to comply with this regulation. Consequently, most passenger vehicles now come with side airbags as standard equipment. Further advancements included curtain airbags that can deploy in a rollover crash, triggered by sensors detecting sideways movement and tilting. While not required by the government, automakers use these airbags to meet the mandate that all 2018 or newer vehicles prevent occupant ejection through side windows. Newer cars have taken the airbag safety systems forward with airbags for seat belts, knee airbags, panoramic sunroof airbags, seat cushion airbags, and rear seat airbags. According to IIHS, future vehicles will feature innovative airbag systems to enhance passenger and pedestrian safety. Flexible seating configurations will necessitate seat-mounted airbags that offer cocoonlike protection. To protect people on the road, external side airbags are being developed to deploy from the side sill to reduce crash forces in side impacts. Meanwhile, while pedestrian-protecting hood airbags will cover the hard parts of the windshield and A-pillar. Active safety technology is now taking vehicle safety forward by preventing accidents or reducing the impact of emergencies. Various systems continuously monitor a vehicle’s performance and surroundings. The first wave of active safety technology, now widely implemented in passenger cars and commercial vehicles, includes anti-lock braking systems and electronic stability control . ABS prevents wheel lock during heavy braking, enabling drivers to maintain steering control. ESC helps prevent skidding and loss of control during cornering by automatically activating the brakes to steer the vehicle in the right direction. Currently, around 80-90 percent of cars on US and European roads are equipped with these technologies. The second wave of active safety measures is now being introduced, leveraging advanced technologies such as onboard sensors, radar, cameras, GPS, and lasers. This wave includes autonomous emergency braking , which automatically brakes if a collision is imminent and the driver fails to act, and lane departure warning systems that alert drivers when they unintentionally leave their lane. Lane-keeping assistance applies torque to the steering wheel or brakes to prevent lane departures. Drowsiness and attention detection systems assess driver alertness and recommend breaks when needed. Speed limit information systems display current speed limits using cameras and GPS data, while tire pressure monitoring systems provide real-time tire pressure information. Intelligent speed assistance actively prevents drivers from exceeding speed limits using road sign recognition and GPS-linked databases. These advanced technologies collectively enhance vehicle safety by proactively addressing potential hazards. As autonomous vehicles are fast approaching, the necessity of stringent crash test standards and advanced safety features becomes increasingly critical. Safety regulations are the prerogative of the respective countries in which vehicles are sold. Governments use various NCAPs worldwide to formulate legislation to enforce safety standards. The US NHTSA created the first NCAP in 1979 to encourage safer vehicle manufacturing and informed consumer choices. Modeled on the US program, Euro NCAP was founded in 1997, followed by similar programs in Australia , Latin America , and China . The recent entrant to that list is Bharat NCAP in India. Since ANCAP is predicated on Euro NCAP, it shares essential similarities with Euro NCAP and ANCAP. In its tests, JNCAP uses a different pace. In addition to measuring pedestrian impact and employing a separate rating system, IIHS includes two additional vehicle tests. Can safety regulations worldwide be made the same? Arbelaez believes it’s a great idea, but it has its own practical limitations. “Right now, we have very different fleets, and it may not make sense to harmonize those regulations,” he said. In the US, work is underway to improve the safety of cars when they collide with tractor-trailers. Manufacturers are catching up with their European counterparts by installing under-ride guards to avoid serious damages when cars rear-end a trailer. Crash testing agencies face challenges related to conducting such tests. At IIHS, the cost of procuring the vehicle and running the test limits its assessment capacity to four crash tests with each vehicle type. IIHS is considering computer simulations and virtual models as an alternative to some of the tests conducted in the real world. Apart from saving time and resources, it also “allows us to augment the types of tests and the impact angles and the speeds, many different scenarios that you can’t do with just physical testing”, said Arbelaez. Significant human involvement is involved in developing vehicle computer models, which are proprietary to each manufacturer. Despite knowing every detail, from metals to plastics and airbags, prototypes must still be built and validated. According to Arbalaez, these models could be more flawless; they often require adjustments and fine-tuning. While AI might aid this process in the future, human input remains crucial. As autonomous vehicles are fast approaching, the necessity of stringent crash test standards and advanced safety features becomes increasingly critical for both occupants and other road users.Jijo is an automotive and business journalist based in India. Armed with a BA in History from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, and a PG diploma in Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi, he has worked for news agencies, national newspapers, and automotive magazines. In his spare time, he likes to go off-roading, engage in political discourse, travel, and teach languages.
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