External airbags could save pedestrians
Published 16 April, 2009, 13:05
Edited 27 September, 2009, 10:46
European researchers are testing an external airbag, which is hoped could dramatically reduce injuries and deaths on the road.
The collaboration called Integrated Project on Advanced Protection Systems (APROSYS) is funded by the EU and brings together safety specialists from across Europe, reports New Scientist magazine.
A team at Cranfield University near Bedford in the UK is working on a system that can detect an incoming hit. The idea is that once an impact is imminent, a giant airbag is released from the hood in front of the windshield.
Early tests using a Fiat Stilo were carried out at the Italian producer’s research centre in Turin using dummy pedestrians. They showed the bags produced a drop in the Head Impact Criterion, which measures the probability of a head injury, cutting it from 1000 in an ordinary collision to between 234 and 682 when the new airbag system was used. Scores from a similar system using windshield airbags ranged from 692 to 945.
The team also suggests mounting windshields on flexible Z-shaped sections, which can absorb the energy in a collision.
Road safety experts in Japan and the US are independently working with manufacturers on similar systems.
Another APROSYS project, carried out at the University of Technology in Austria, studies how to make truck accidents less lethal. Their idea is to alter the shape of truck bumpers, making them smoother with a rising in the centre. It is hoped the change would mean that if hit, a pedestrian would be deflected to the side and not be run over by the vehicle.
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