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A Brief History of Car Safety Features

A BRIEFCAR HİSTORY OF SAFETY FEATUŘÉS BY MICKSIGARAGE.COM THE CAR PARTS EXPERTS 1903 WIPER BLADES ( AMERICAN RANCHER AND VITICULTURIST MARY ANDERSON DEVELOPED THIS LONG RUNNING SAFETY DEVICE, WITH A PATENT ISSUED IN NOVEMBER 1903. TURN SIGNALS- 1914 HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS FLORENCE LAWRENCE IS GENERALLY CREDITED WITH INVENTING EARLY INDICATORS, 921 ALTHOUGH SHE NEVER PATENTED THE IDEA... HYDRAULIC BRAKES FREDERICK DUESENBERG TRANSFERS FOUR-WHEEL HYDRAULIC BRAKES FROM RACING TO HIS ROAD CARS, BECOMING THE FIRST MANUFACTURER TO DO SO. CRASH TESTING 1934 GENERAL MOTORS IS CREDITED WITH CONDUCTING THE FIRST EVER BARRIER CRASH TEST TO SEE HOW A CAR WOULD WITHSTAND AN ACCIDENT. 1949 DISC BRAKESO THE UK'S FRED LANCHESTER PIONEERED THEM IN 1902, BUT THEY WERE A PRIMITIVE SYSTEM. THE CHRYSLER CROWN IMPERIAL THEREFORE GETS THE DISTINCTION OF DEBUTING THEM. (A 3 POINT SEATBELTS1959 EUROPE FINALLY GETS IN ON THE ACT, BUT IT'S A BIGGIE – VOLVO INVENTS THE HUGELY EFFECTIVE THREE-POINT SEATBELT STILL WIDELY USED TODAY. 1960 - PADDED DASHBOARD- VOLVO AGAIN – THIS TIME SOFTENING UP THE DASH ARCHITECTURE TO PREVENT FACE AND CHEST INJURIES IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH. NT INTERMITTENT WIPERS 1963 MICHIGAN INVENTOR ROBERT KEARNS PRESENTS THIS WIPER UPDATE TO FORD, WHICH STEALS HIS IDEA: SEE THE FILM FLASH OF GENIUS. 1966 ANTI-LOCK BRAKES (ABS BRITISH MARQUE JENSEN BORROWS AIRCRAFT TECHNOLOGY FOR ITS FF MODEL, GIVING US THE FIRST MECHANICAL ABS. O HEAD RESTRAINTS 1968 BACK OVER IN SWEDEN, VOLVO DEVELOPS FRONT-SEAT HEAD RESTRAINTS TO PROTECT THE HEAD AND NECK (AND PREVENT 1978 - ELECTRONIC ABS ABS WHIPLASH) IN REÁR-END COLLISIONS. MERCEDES MOVES THE BRAKING GAME ON WITH ELECTRONIC ABS IN THE TOP-LINE S-CLASS. DRIVER'S AIRBAG- 1981 A CONTENTIOUS ONE, AS US CARS WERE USING BASIC SYSTEMS IN THE SEVENTIES, BUT THE MERCEDES S-CLASS TAKES THE HONOURS FOR A PROPER SUPPLEMENTAL RESTRAINT SYSTEM (SRS). 1991 SIDE IMPACT PROTECTION VOLVO CONTINUES MAKING CARS SAFER BY COMBINING SIDE-IMPACT PROTECTION BARS WITH SEATS ON TRANSVERSE RAILS. SIDE IMPACT AIRBAGH 1994 WHO ELSE BUT VOLVO? THE 850 SEES THE FIRST USE OF AIRBAGS THAT AREN'T JUST AHEAD OF THE CAR'S OCCUPANTS. 1995 - ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL MERCEDES MATCHES VOLVO BLOW FOR BLOW AS THE S-CLASS (AGAIN) DEBUTS ESC, ALBEIT WITH ELECTRONIC GIANT BOSCH'S HELP. K KNEE AIRBAGS 1996 UNUSUALLY, KIA IS CREDITED WITH THIS AS IT FITTED THEM TO THE SPORTAGE SUV ALMOST 20 YEARS AGO. 1996 EURO NCAP ESTABLISHED O CRASH TESTING GETS PROPERLY SERIOUS, WITH THE EUROPEAN NEW CAR ASSESSMENT PROGRAMME FORMED. ACTIVE HEAD RESTRAINTS 1998 SAAB (REMEMBER THEM?) DEVELÓPS VOLVO'S 20-YEAR-OLD IDEA WITH A MORE ADVANCED HEAD RESTRAINT. 2001 FIRST 5 STAR CAR THE RENAULT LAGUNA IS THE FIRST CAR TO RECEIVE TOP MARKS FROM EURO NCAP. LANE DEPARTURE WARNING- 2005 THE ACTIVE SAFETY ERA BEGINS, AS CITROËN DEVELOPS A WARNING FOR DRIVERS WHO DRIFT OUT OF LANE. 2006 POP UP BONNET THE JAGUAR XK AND CITROËN C6 BOTH INCORPORATE THIS PEDESTRIAN SAFETY DEVICE IN 2006. BLIND SPOT MONITORING2007 VOLVO, PERHAPS THINKING IT HASN'T CONTRIBUTED FOR 13 YEARS, OFFERS A VISUAL SIGN TO DENOTE A CAR SITTING IN THE DRIVER'S BLIND SPOT. 2008 AUTONOMOUS BRAKING («CO DEBUTING ON THE VOLVO XC60, THIS SYSTEM CAN DETECT STATIONARY TRAFFIC, WHEREUPON IT WARNS THE DRIVER AND PRIMES THE BRAKES. TOUGHER NCAP RATINGS- 2009 ADULT OCCUPANT, CHILD OCCUPANT, PEDESTRIAN AND SAFETY ASSIST AREAS ALL ASSESSED, WITH MORE CHANGES BROUGHT IN FOR 2014. THE FUTURE SELF DRIVING CARS THE ULTIMATE IN CAR SAFETY? GOOGLE, VOLVO (NATURALLY) AND MANY MORE ARÉ WORKING ON CARS THAT REQUIRE NO HUMAN INPUT. DID YOU KNOW? THE FIRST PERSON EVER TO DIE AS A RESULT OF A CAR CRASH WAS MRS BRIDGET DRISCOLL OF OLD TOWN, CROYDON, LONDON WHO WAS STRUCK BY A BRITISH-BUILT COPY OF A BENZ PATENTWAGEN, TRAVELLING AT THE STATELY SPEED OF 4MPH. POOR MRS DRISCOLL SUFFERED A FRACTURED SKULL AND DIED SHORTLY AFTERWARDS. THAT WAS IN 1896, SO FOR THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF ITS LIFE, THE PRIVATE MOTOR CAR ACTUALLY HAD A PRETTY CLEAN SAFETY RECORD. SINCE THEN, THE STRUGGLE HAS BEEN BETWEEN EVER-INCREASING SAFETY STANDARDS TRYING TO HOLD BACK THE TIDE OF ROAD DEATHS AND INJURIES. THE FUNNY THING IS THAT MOST OF THE BEST INNOVATIONS ARE SIMPLE. SEATBELTS HAD BEEN AROUND FOR YEARS BUT IT TOOK A VOLVO ENGINEER, NILS BOHLIN (WHO HAD ALSO WORKED ON AIRCRAFT EJECTOR SEATS) TO COME UP WITH THE NOW-UTTERLY-FAMILIAR THREE-POINT TRIANGLE BELT WITH SIMPLE CLUNK-CLICK LATCH. LIKEWISE, DISC BRAKES ARE A PRETTY SIMPLE ITEM, BUT IT TOOK UNTIL THE 1960s FOR HYDRAULIC TECHNOLOGY TO CATCH UP AND MAKE THEM RELIABLE AND AFFORDABLE. THINK HOW MANY LIVES SIMPLE SEATBELTS AND BETTER BRAKES HAVE SAVED! SINCE THE EIGHTIES, THE ADVANCES HAVE MOVED MOSTLY AWAY FROM HARDWARE (ALTHOUGH, HEAVEN KNOWS, CRUMPLE ZONES AND HIGH-TENSILE STEEL HAVE CERTAINLY HELPED) AND INTO THE ELECTRONICS WORLD. BOSCH'S ELECTRONIC STABİLITY PROGRAMME (ESP, OR IN THE ORIGINAL GERMAN, ELEKTRONISCHES STABILITÄTSPROGRAMM) HAS BEEN HELPING DRIVERS MAINTAIN OR REGAIN CONTROL IN SLIPPERY CONDITIONS SINCE 1995 AND HAS BEEN REPEATEDLY COPIED BY OTHERS. NOW WE HAVE BRAKES THAT USE CAMERAS TO READ THE ROAD AHEAD AND STOP US AUTOMATICALLY IF NEEDS BE, AND CRUISE CONTROL THAT CONTROLS ITSELF WITH RADAR. NEXT COME SELF-DRIVING CARS AND THEN WHAT? TESLA BOSS ELON MUSK RECKONS HUMANS DRIVING CARS WILL EVENTUALLY BE OUTLAWED, SIMPLY BECAUSE HAVING FALLIBLE HUMANITY IN CHARGE ÓF TWO TONNES OF SPEEDING METAL IS JUST SILLY. WE'RE NOT SO SURE THOUGH – THE HUMAN BRAIN IS STILL BETTER THAN A COMPUTER AT PREDICTING WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT, AND WITH EVER MORE INNOVATIONS AND HIGHER SAFETY STANDARDS, WE SHOULD BE IN CHARGE AT THE WHEEL FOR SOME TIME TO COME. MRS DRISCOLL MAY NOT BE WELL REMEMBERED BUT HER LEGACY IS ONE OF EVER-IMPROVING VEHICLE SAFETY. INFORMATION POWERED BY MICKSIGARAGE.COM THE CAR PARTS EXPERTS

A Brief History of Car Safety Features

shared by Micksgarage on May 05
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From the invention of the windscreen wiper blade in 1903 to autonomous braking in 2009, we chart all the major developments in automotive safety.

Publisher

MicksGarage

Designer

Rob Hunt

Category

Transportation
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