Crashworthy Design

During a collision, occupants face potentially injurious forces, including rapid deceleration (in frontal impacts) and rapid acceleration (in rear and side impacts). A crashworthy design minimizes the damaging effects of these forces by distributing them over as great a period of time and distance as possible. A crashworthy design also seeks to direct the forces to parts of the occupant's body more capable of withstanding them.

Crashworthy designs encompass five basic principles ­ minimization of intrusion, effective restraint system, prevention of ejection, inoffensive interiors, and fuel system integrity. A safe design must minimize passenger compartment intrusion. In rear impacts, crush should occur behind the rear axle. In frontal impacts, crush should occur in front of the dash and steering column, and the steering column should not intrude toward the occupant. In rollovers, the roof and supporting structures should not crush onto an occupant's head and neck. The restraint system should secure the occupant to the passenger compartment, preventing injurious collision with the vehicle interior. Ejection greatly increases the odds of death or serious injury; therefore, a vehicle's doors should stay shut, the seat belts should remain latched, and no large portals or openings should occur during accidents. Vehicle interiors should absorb destructive accident forces. This requires smooth surfaces, padding and collapsible steering columns to minimize the injurious effects of head and body contact with the vehicle interior. A safe design must minimize the risk of fuel fed fires. If an occupant can survive a collision and its crash forces without serious skeletal or internal injuries, the fuel system should similarly remain secure and intact.

As part of an effective crashworthy design, manufacturers and government look to specific aspects of a vehicle for opportunities to create a safer accident environment. Seat performance, head restraints, air bags are three primary areas on which auto manufacturers focus when seeking to improve crashworthiness. These three areas also represent common design flaws that can increase the risk of injury in a defectively designed vehicle.

A variety of factors can affect seat performance. The seat adjuster, seat back, or seat anchors can all fail in the event of a collision. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires that car seats withstand 3,300 inch-pounds of energy when involved in a collision. This is the reasonable amount of force a seat must withstand in an accident.

The NHTSA requires that head restraints be at least twenty-seven and a half inches above the seat reference point in the fully extended position, or alternatively, that head restraints not allow the head and torso to exceed a 45-degree angle during a forward acceleration at a particular velocity. There are two types of head restraints that meet these requirements. Integral head restraint design provides a seat back high enough to meet the above requirements. Adjustable head restraints provide a separate head restraint pad attached to the seat back by sliding metal shafts. Without properly designed head restraints, neck injuries are more likely to occur in an accident.

Air bags, classified as passive restraint systems, do not require human assistance in order to effectively protect the occupants of a vehicle. They are located in the steering wheel and dash of a vehicle and are designed to deploy in the event of a frontal collision. Though air bags have been known to cause injuries and fatalities, especially for infants and small children, they also serve to prevent injurious collisions with the interior of the car.

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