Passive Safety Device
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Automotive safety is the study and practice of automotive design, construction, equipment and regulation to minimize the occurrence and consequences of
traffic collision A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Tr ...
s involving
motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on railway track, rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such ...
s.
Road traffic safety Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures, such as traffic calming, to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, Driving, motorists, passengers of vehicles, and p ...
more broadly includes roadway design. One of the first formal academic studies into improving
motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on railway track, rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such ...
safety was by
Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory Calspan Corporation is a science and technology company founded in 1943 as part of the Research Laboratory of the Curtiss-Wright Airplane Division at Buffalo, New York. Calspan consists of four primary operating units: Flight Research, Transportat ...
of
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
. The main conclusion of their extensive report is the crucial importance of
seat belt A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...
s and padded dashboards. However, the primary vector of traffic-related
death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
s and injuries is the disproportionate mass and velocity of an automobile compared to that of the predominant victim, the
pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, by wheelchair or with other mobility aids. Streets and roads often have a designated footpath for pedestrian traffic, called the '' sidewalk'' in North American English, the ''pavement'' in British En ...
. According to the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
(WHO), 80% of cars sold in the world are not compliant with main safety standards. Only 40 countries have adopted the full set of the seven most important regulations for car safety. In the United States, a pedestrian is injured by a motor vehicle every 8 minutes, and are 1.5 times more likely than a vehicle's occupants to be killed in a motor vehicle crash per outing. Improvements in roadway and motor vehicle designs have steadily reduced injury and death rates in all
first world The concept of the First World was originally one of the " Three Worlds" formed by the global political landscape of the Cold War, as it grouped together those countries that were aligned with the Western Bloc of the United States. This groupin ...
countries. Nevertheless, auto collisions are the leading cause of injury-related deaths, an estimated total of 1.2 million in 2004, or 25% of the total from all causes. Of those killed by autos, nearly two-thirds are pedestrians.
Risk compensation Risk compensation is a theory which suggests that people typically adjust their behavior in response to perceived levels of risk, becoming more careful where they sense greater risk and less careful if they feel more protected. Although usually ...
theory has been used in arguments against safety devices, regulations and modifications of vehicles despite the efficacy of saving lives. Coalitions to promote road and automotive safety, such as Together for Safer Roads (TSR), brings together global private sector companies, across industries, to collaborate on improving road safety. TSR brings together members' knowledge, data, technology, and global networks to focus on five road safety areas that will make an impact globally and within local communities. The rising trend of
autonomous things Autonomous things, abbreviated AuT, or the Internet of autonomous things, abbreviated as IoAT, is an emerging term for the technological developments that are expected to bring computers into the physical environment as autonomous entities without ...
is largely driven by the move towards the
autonomous car A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous car (AC), driverless car, robotic car or robo-car, is a car that is capable of operating with reduced or no User input, human input. They are sometimes called robotaxi, robotaxis, though this te ...
, that both addresses the main existing safety issues and creates new issues. The autonomous car is expected to be safer than existing vehicles, by eliminating the single most dangerous element - the driver. The Center for Internet and Society at
Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...
claims that "Some ninety percent of motor vehicle crashes are caused at least in part by
human error Human error is an action that has been done but that was "not intended by the actor; not desired by a set of rules or an external observer; or that led the task or system outside its acceptable limits".Senders, J.W. and Moray, N.P. (1991) Human Er ...
". But while safety standards like the
ISO 26262 ISO 26262, titled "Road vehicles – Functional safety", is an international standard for functional safety of electrical and/or electronic systems that are installed in serial production road vehicles (excluding mopeds), defined by the Intern ...
specify the required safety, it is still a burden on the industry to demonstrate acceptable safety.


Occupational driving

Work-related roadway crashes are the leading cause of death from traumatic injuries in the U.S. workplace. They accounted for nearly 12,000 deaths between 1992 and 2000. Deaths and injuries from these roadway crashes result in increased costs to employers and lost productivity in addition to their toll in human suffering. Truck drivers tend to endure higher fatality rates than workers in other occupations, but concerns about motor vehicle safety in the workplace are not limited to those surrounding the operation of large trucks. Workers outside the motor carrier industry routinely operate company-owned vehicles for deliveries, sales and repair calls, client visits, etc. In these instances, the employer providing the vehicle generally plays a major role in setting safety, maintenance, and training policy. As in non-occupational driving, young drivers are especially at risk. In the workplace, 45% of all fatal injuries to workers under age 18 between 1992 and 2000 in the United States resulted from transportation incidents.


Active and passive safety

The terms "active" and "passive" are simple but important terms in the world of automotive safety. "
Active safety The term active safety (or primary safety) is used in two distinct ways. The first, mainly in the United States, refers to automobile safety systems that help avoid accidents, such as good steering and brakes. In this context, passive safety ref ...
" is used to refer to technology assisting in the prevention of a crash and "passive safety" to components of the vehicle (primarily airbags, seatbelts and the physical structure of the vehicle) that help to protect occupants during a crash.


Crash avoidance

Crash avoidance systems and devices help the driver — and, increasingly, help the vehicle itself — to avoid a collision. This category includes: * The vehicle's
headlamp A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for t ...
s, reflectors, and other lights and signals * The vehicle's
mirror A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror forms an image of whatever is in front of it, which is then focused through the lens of the eye or a camera ...
s * The vehicle's
brake A brake is a machine, mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for Acceleration, slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of ...
s,
steering Steering is the control of the direction of motion or the components that enable its control. Steering is achieved through various arrangements, among them ailerons for airplanes, rudders for boats, cylic tilting of rotors for helicopters, ...
, and
suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Car suspension * Cell suspension or suspension culture, in biology * Guarded suspension, a software design pattern in concurrent programming suspending a method call and the calling ...
systems


Driver assistance

A
subset In mathematics, a Set (mathematics), set ''A'' is a subset of a set ''B'' if all Element (mathematics), elements of ''A'' are also elements of ''B''; ''B'' is then a superset of ''A''. It is possible for ''A'' and ''B'' to be equal; if they a ...
of crash avoidance is ''driver assistance'' systems, which help the driver to detect obstacles and to control the vehicle. Driver assistance systems include: * Driver Alertness Detection System (DADS) to help prevent crashes caused by fatigue, lack of alertness, or distractions *
Advanced emergency braking system The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations define AEBS (also automated emergency braking in some jurisdictions). UN ECE regulation 131 requires a system which can automatically detect a potential forward collision and activate the ...
systems to prevent or reduce the severity of collision. * Infrared night vision systems to increase seeing distance beyond headlamp range *
Adaptive headlamps A headlamp is a lamp (electrical component), lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''h ...
control the direction and range of the headlight beams to light the driver's way through curves and maximize seeing distance without partially blinding other drivers *
Reverse backup sensors Parking sensors are proximity sensors for road vehicles designed to alert the driver of obstacles while parking. These systems use either electromagnetic or ultrasonic sensors. Ultrasonic systems These systems feature ultrasonic proximity dete ...
, which alert drivers to difficult-to-see objects in their path when reversing *
Backup camera A backup camera (also called a reversing camera or rear-view camera) is a video camera specifically designed to be attached to the rear of a vehicle to aid in Reversing (vehicle maneuver), reversing and reduce the rear Blind spot (vehicle), blind ...
*
Adaptive cruise control Adaptive cruise control (ACC) is a type of advanced driver-assistance system for road vehicles that automatically adjusts the vehicle speed to maintain a safe distance from vehicles ahead. As of 2019, it is also called by 20 unique names that ...
which maintains a safe distance from the vehicle in front * Lane departure warning systems to alert the driver of an unintended departure from the intended lane of travel * Tire pressure monitoring systems or Deflation Detection Systems *
Traction control system A traction control system (TCS), is typically (but not necessarily) a secondary function of the electronic stability control (ESC) on production motor vehicles, designed to prevent loss of traction (i.e., wheelspin) of the driven road wheels. TC ...
s which restore traction if driven wheels begin to spin *
Electronic Stability Control Electronic stability control (ESC), also referred to as electronic stability program (ESP) or dynamic stability control (DSC), is a computerized technology that improves a car handling, vehicle's stability by detecting and reducing loss of Tract ...
, which intervenes to avert an impending loss of control *
Anti-lock braking system An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a Automotive safety, safety anti-Skid (automobile), skid Brake, braking system used on aircraft and on land motor vehicle, vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. ABS operates by preventing t ...
s *
Electronic brakeforce distribution Electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD or EBFD) or electronic brakeforce limitation (EBL) is an automobile brake technology that automatically varies the amount of force applied to each of a vehicle's wheels, based on road conditions, speed, lo ...
systems *
Emergency brake assist Brake assist (BA or BAS) or emergency brake assist (EBA) is a term for an automobile braking technology that increases braking pressure in an emergency. The first application was developed jointly by Daimler-Benz and TRW/ LucasVarity. Research c ...
systems *
Cornering Brake Control Cornering Brake Control (CBC) is an automotive safety measure that improves handling performance by distributing the force applied on the wheels of a vehicle while turning corners. Introduced by BMW in 1992, the technology is now featured in modern ...
systems *
Assured Clear Distance Ahead In legal terminology, the assured clear distance ahead (ACDA) is the distance ahead of any terrestrial locomotive device such as a land vehicle, typically an automobile, or watercraft, within which they should be able to bring the device to a ha ...
measurement and speed governance systems *
Precrash system A collision avoidance system (CAS), also known as a pre-crash system, forward collision warning system (FCW), or collision mitigation system, is an advanced driver-assistance system designed to prevent or reduce the severity of a collision. I ...
* Automated parking system *
Obstacle detection sensor systems An obstacle (also called a barrier, impediment, or stumbling block) is an object, thing, action or situation that causes an obstruction. A obstacle blocks or hinders our way forward. Different types of obstacles include physical, economic, bio ...
notify a driver how close their vehicle is to an object - usually providing a distance measurement, to the inch, as to how close they are.


Crashworthiness

Crashworthy systems and devices prevent or reduce the severity of injuries when a crash is imminent or actually happening. Much research is carried out using anthropomorphic
crash test dummies Crash Test Dummies are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Anchored by Brad Roberts (vocals, guitar) and his distinctive bass-baritone voice, the other band members have fluctuated over the years. Its most prominent line-up consist ...
. *
Seatbelt A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...
s limit the forward motion of an occupant, stretch to absorb energy, to lengthen the time of the occupant's negative acceleration in a crash, reducing the loading on the occupants' body. They prevent occupants being ejected from the vehicle and ensure that they are in the correct position for the operation of the airbags. *
Airbag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate in milliseconds during a collision and then deflate afterwards. It consists of an airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. ...
s inflate to cushion the impact of a vehicle occupant with various parts of the vehicle's interior. The most important being the prevention of direct impact of the driver's head with the steering wheel and door pillar. * Laminated windshields remain in one piece when impacted, preventing penetration of unbelted occupants' heads and maintaining a minimal but adequate transparency for control of the car immediately following a collision. It is also a bonded structural part of the safety cell.
Tempered glass Tempered or toughened glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled heat treatment, thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempering puts the outer surfaces into Compression (physics), comp ...
side and rear windows break into granules with minimally sharp edges, rather than splintering into jagged fragments as ordinary glass does. *
Crumple zone Crumple zones, crush zones or crash zones are a structural safety feature used in vehicles, mainly in automobiles, to increase the time over which a change in velocity (and consequently momentum) occurs from the impact during a collision by a ...
s absorb and dissipate the force of a collision, displacing and diverting it away from the passenger compartment and reducing the negative acceleration impact force on the vehicle occupants. Vehicles will include a front, rear and maybe side crumple zones (like Volvo SIPS) too. * Safety Cell—the passenger compartment is reinforced with high strength materials, at places subject to high loads in a crash, in order to maintain a survival space for the vehicle occupants. Footwell intrusion is one recognized failure mode of the safety cell, and
anti-intrusion bar An anti-intrusion bar or beam is a passive safety device, installed in most cars and other ground vehicles, which must protect passengers from side impacts. Side impacts are particularly dangerous for two reasons: a) the location of impact is very ...
s are one component addressing protection in side impacts. * Collapsible universally jointed steering columns, along with steering wheel airbag. The steering system is mounted behind the front axle - behind and protected by, the front crumple zone. This reduces the risk and severity of driver impact or even impalement on the column in a frontal crash. * Pedestrian protection systems. * Padding of the instrument panel and other interior parts, on the vehicle in areas likely to be struck by the occupants during a crash, and the careful placement of mounting brackets away from those areas. * Cargo barriers are sometimes fitted to provide a physical barrier between passenger and cargo compartments in vehicles such as
SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...
s,
station wagons A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate) is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door (the lift ...
and vans. These help prevent injuries caused by occupants being struck by unsecured cargo. They can also help prevent collapse of the roof in the event of a vehicle rollover.


Post-crash survivability

Post-crash survivability is the chance that drivers and passengers survive a crash after it occurs. Technology such as
Advanced Automatic Collision Notification Advanced Automatic Collision Notification (AACN) is the successor to Automatic Collision Notification (ACN). the CDC and the CDC Foundation partnered with OnStar and the GM Foundation to develop procedures to help emergency medical responders det ...
can automatically place calls to emergency services and send information about a vehicle collision.


Pedestrian safety

Cars are much more dangerous to pedestrians than they are to drivers and passengers. Two-thirds of 1.3 million yearly auto related deaths are pedestrians. Since at least the early 1970s, attention has also been given to vehicle design regarding the safety of pedestrians in car-pedestrian collisions. Proposals in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
would require cars sold there to have a minimum/maximum hood (bonnet) height. From 2006, the use of " bull bars", a fashion on 4x4s and
SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...
s, became illegal in the European Union, after having been banned on all new cars in 2002.


Conspicuity


Lights and reflectors

Vehicles are equipped with a variety of lights and reflectors to mark their presence, position, width, length, and direction of travel as well as to convey the driver's intent and actions to other drivers. These include the vehicle's headlamps, front and rear position lamps, side marker lights and reflectors, turn signals, stop (brake) lamps, and reversing lamps.
School bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to Student transport, transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter ...
es and
semi-trailer truck A semi-trailer truck (also known by a wide variety of other terms – see below) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a type of hitch called ...
s in North America are required to bear
retroreflective A retroreflector (sometimes called a retroflector or cataphote) is a device or surface that reflects light or other radiation back to its source with minimum scattering. This works at a wide range of angle of incidence, unlike a planar mirror, w ...
strips outlining their side and rear perimeters for greater conspicuity at night.
Daytime running lamp A daytime running lamp (DRL, also daytime running light) is an automotive lighting and bicycle lighting device on the front of a road going motor vehicle or bicycle. It is automatically switched on when the vehicle's handbrake has been pulled d ...
s have been required in the Nordic countries since the mid-1970s, in Canada since 1990, and throughout the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
since 7 February 2011.


Vehicle colour

A 2004 essay on the relation between car colour and safety stated that no previous studies had been scientifically conclusive. Since then, a Swedish study found that pink cars are involved in the fewest and black cars are involved in the most crashes (Land transport NZ 2005). In Auckland New Zealand, a study found that there was a significantly lower rate of serious injury in silver cars, with higher rates in brown, black, and green cars. The Vehicle Colour Study, conducted by Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) and published in 2007, analysed 855,258 crashes that occurring between 1987 and 2004 in the Australian states of Victoria and Western Australia that resulted in injury or in a vehicle being towed away. The study analysed risk by light condition. It found that in daylight, black cars were 12% more likely than white to be involved in a collision, followed by grey cars at 11%, silver cars at 10%, and red and blue cars at 7%, with no other colours found to be significantly more or less risky than white. At dawn or dusk, the risk ratio for black cars jumped to 47% more likely than white, and that for silver cars to 15%. In the hours of darkness, only red and silver cars were found to be significantly more risky than white, by 10% and 8% respectively.


Unused safety features

Many different inventions and ideas which may or may not have been practical about auto safety have been put forward but never made it to a production car. Such items include the driver seat in the middle (to give the person a better view) (the exception being the
McLaren F1 The McLaren F1 is a sports car that was the first Motor vehicle type approval, type approved road-going sportscar manufactured by British Formula One team McLaren. It was the last road-legal, series-produced sportscar to win the 24 Hours of Le ...
super car) and control stick steering.


History


18th century–19th century

Automotive safety may have become an issue almost from the beginning of mechanised road vehicle development. The second steam-powered "Fardier" (artillery tractor), created by
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (26 February 1725 – 2 October 1804) was a French inventor who built the world's first full-size and working self-propelled mechanical land-vehicle, the "Fardier à vapeur" – effectively the world's first automobile. B ...
in 1771, is reported by some to have crashed into a wall during its demonstration run. However, according to Georges Ageon, the earliest mention of this occurrence dates from 1801 and it does not feature in contemporary accounts. One of the earliest recorded car-related fatalities was Mary Ward, on August 31, 1869, in Parsonstown, Ireland.


1920s

In 1922, the Duesenburg Model A became the first car to have four-wheel hydraulic brakes.


1930s

In 1930, safety glass became standard on all
Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
cars. In the 1930s, plastic surgeon Claire L. Straith and physician C. J. Strickland advocated the use of
seat belt A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...
s and padded
dashboard A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel or IP, or fascia) is a control panel (engineering), control panel set within the central console of a vehicle, boat, or cockpit of an aircraft or spacecraft. Usually located directly ahead of the ...
s. Strickland founded the Automobile Safety League of America. In 1934, GM performed the first barrier
crash test A crash test is a form of destructive testing usually performed in order to ensure safe design standards in crashworthiness and crash compatibility for various modes of transportation (see automobile safety) or related systems and compon ...
. In 1936, the Hudson Terraplane came with the first back-up brake system. Should the hydraulic brakes fail, the brake pedal would activate a set of mechanical brakes for the back wheels. In 1937,
Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...
,
Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
, DeSoto, and
Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...
added such items as a flat, smooth dash with recessed controls, rounded door handles, a windshield wiper control made of rubber, and the back of the front seat heavily padded to provide protection for rear passengers.


1940s

In 1942,
Hugh DeHaven Hugh DeHaven (3 March 1895 – 13 February 1980) was an American pilot, engineer and passive safety pioneer. DeHaven survived a plane crash while training as a Royal Canadian Flying Corps pilot during the First World War, and became interested in ...
published the classic ''Mechanical analysis of survival in falls from heights of fifty to one hundred and fifty feet''. In 1947, the American
Tucker Tucker may refer to: Places United States * Tucker, Arkansas * Tucker, Georgia * Tucker, Mississippi * Tucker, Missouri * Tucker, Utah, ghost town * Tucker County, West Virginia Outer space * Tucker (crater), a small lunar impact crater in ...
was built with the world's first padded dashboard. It also came with middle headlight that turned with the steering wheel, a front steel bulkhead, and a front safety chamber. In 1949, SAAB incorporated aircraft safety thinking into automobiles making the
Saab 92 The Saab 92 was the first production car from Saab. The design was very aerodynamic for its time, with a drag coefficient (''cx'' or ''cw'') of 0.30. The entire body was stamped out of one piece of sheet metal and then cut to accommodate doors ...
the first production SAAB car with a safety cage. Also in 1949, the Chrysler Imperial Crown was the first car to come with standard disc brakes.


1950s

In 1955, a
USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
surgeon who advised the US Surgeon General wrote an article on how to make cars safer for those riding in it. Aside from the usual safety features, such as seat belts and padded dashboards, bumper shocks were introduced. In 1956, Ford tried unsuccessfully to interest Americans in purchasing safer cars with their
Lifeguard A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and Cardiopulmonary ...
safety package. (Its attempt nevertheless earns Ford ''
Motor Trend ''Motor Trend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''Motor Trend'' until 1998, when it was sold ...
''s "Car of the Year" award for 1956.) In 1958, the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
established the
World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations is a working party (WP.29) of the Inland Transport Committee (ITC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Its responsibility is to manage the multilateral Agreements ...
, an international standards body advancing auto safety. Many of the most life saving safety innovations, like seat belts and
roll cage A roll cage is a specially engineered and constructed frame built in (or sometimes around, in which case it is known as an exo cage) the passenger compartment of a vehicle to protect its occupants from being injured or killed in an accident, pa ...
construction were brought to market under its auspices. That same year,
Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...
engineer Nils Bohlin invented and patented the three-point lap and shoulder
seat belt A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...
, which became standard equipment on all Volvo cars in 1959. Over the next several decades, three-point safety belts were gradually mandated in all vehicles by regulators throughout the industrialised world. In 1959, American Motors Corporation offered the first optional head rests for the front seat. Also in 1959, the
Cadillac Cyclone The Cadillac Cyclone is a concept car built in 1959 by Cadillac. The Cyclone was never mass-produced as a production model. It currently resides within thGM Heritage Collection Overview One of the last cars designed by Harley Earl, the Cyclone wa ...
concept by
Harley Earl Harley Jarvis Earl (November 22, 1893 – April 10, 1969) was an American Automotive design, automotive designer and business executive. He was the initial designated head of design at General Motors, later becoming vice president, the first ...
had "a
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
-based crash-avoidance system" located in the on the nose cones of the vehicle that would make audible and visual signals to the driver if there were obstacles in the vehicle's path.


1960s

Effective on new passenger cars sold in the United States after January 1, 1964. front outboard lap belts were required. On September 9, 1966, the
National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was enacted in the United States in 1966 to empower the federal government to set and administer new safety standards for motor vehicles and road traffic safety. The Act was the first mandatory fed ...
became law in the U.S., the first mandatory federal safety standards for motor vehicles. Effective in 1966, US-market passenger cars were required to be equipped with padded instrument panels, front and rear outboard lap belts, and white reverse (backup) lamps. In 1966, the U.S. established the
United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...
(DOT) with automobile safety as one of its purposes. The
National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...
(NTSB) was created as an independent organization on April 1, 1967, but was reliant on the DOT for administration and funding. However, in 1975 the organization was made completely independent by the Independent Safety Board Act (in P.L. 93-633; 49 U.S.C. 1901). In 1967, equipment specifications by such major fleet purchasers as the City and County of Los Angeles, California, encouraged the voluntary installation in most new cars sold in the US of safety devices, systems, and design features including: * Elimination of protruding knobs and controls in passenger compartment * Additional padding on the instrument panel and other interior surfaces * Mounting points for front outboard shoulder belts * Four-way hazard flashers * A uniform P-R-N-D-L gear sequence for
automatic transmission An automatic transmission (AT) or automatic gearbox is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. The 1904 ...
gear selectors * Dual-circuit brake hydraulic systems In 1968, the precursor agency to the US
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on automobile safety regulations. NHTSA is charged with writing and enforcing Feder ...
's first
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) are U.S. federal vehicle regulations specifying design, construction, performance, and durability requirements for motor vehicles and regulated automobile safety-related components, systems, and ...
took effect. These required shoulder belts for left and right front-seat vehicle occupants, side marker lights, collapsible steering columns, and other safety features. 1969 saw the addition of
head restraint Head restraints (also called headrests) are an automotive safety feature, attached or integrated into the top of each car seat, seat to limit the rearward movement of the adult occupant's head, relative to the torso, in a Traffic collision, col ...
s for front outboard passengers, addressing the problem of whiplash in rear-end collisions. These safety requirements did not apply to vehicles classified as "commercial," such as light-duty pickup trucks. Thus, manufacturers did not always include such hardware in these vehicles, even though many did passenger-car duty. Volvo developed the first rear-facing child seat in 1964 and introduced its own booster seat in 1978.


1970s

In 1974, GM offered driver and passenger airbags as optional equipment on large Cadillacs, Buicks, and Oldsmobiles. In 1976, the crash test dummy Hybrid III was introduced to assess the impacts of car collisions. It represented the 50th percentile male standing at approximately 5' 9" tall and weighing 78 kg (171 lbs). In 1979, NHTSA began crash-testing popular cars and publishing the results, to inform consumers and encourage manufacturers to improve the safety of their vehicles. Initially, the US NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) crash tests examined compliance with the occupant-protection provisions of
FMVSS 208 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 (FMVSS 208) regulates automotive occupant crash protection in the United States. Like all other Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, FMVSS 208 is administered by the United States Department of Transp ...
. Over the subsequent years, this NHTSA program was gradually expanded in scope.


1980s

In 1984, New York State passed the first U.S. law requiring seat belt use in passenger cars. Seat belt laws have since been adopted by 49 states (
New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
has not). NHTSA estimates the resulting increased seat belt use saves 10,000 per year in the United States. In 1986, the central 3rd brake light was mandated in North America with most of the world following with similar standards in
automotive lighting Automotive lighting is functional exterior lighting in vehicles. A motor vehicle has lighting and signaling devices mounted to or integrated into its front, rear, sides, and, in some cases, top. Various devices have the dual function of illumin ...
. Airbags were first installed in production vehicles in the 1980s as standard equipment instead of an option as was done in the mid-1970s (such as the Oldsmobile Toronado in 1974). In 1981, airbags were an available option on the Mercedes-Benz W126 (S-Class). In 1987, the
Porsche 944 The Porsche 944 is a sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 1982 until 1991. A front-engine, rear-wheel drive mid-level model based on the Porsche 924, 924 Car platform, platform, the 944 was available in coupé o ...
Turbo became the first car to have driver and passenger airbags as standard equipment, and airbags were offered as an available option on the 944 and 944S. The first airbag was also installed in a Japanese car, the
Honda Legend The is a series of V6 engine, V6-engined executive cars that was produced by Honda between 1985 and 2021, and served as its flagship vehicle. The Legend has also been sold under the Acura Legend, Acura RL, RL and Acura RLX, RLX nameplates — t ...
, in 1987. In 1988, Chrysler was the first United States company to install standard driver's side air bags, in six of its passenger models. In 1989, Chrysler became the first U.S. auto manufacturer to install driver-side air bags in all its domestic-built automobiles.


1990s

In 1995, the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute (IIHS-HLDI) is an American nonprofit organization. It was established in 1959, and it is noted for its safety reviews of vehicles in various simulated traffic situations, ...
(IIHS) began frontal offset crash tests. Also in the same year, Volvo introduced the world's first car with side airbags: the 850. In 1996, the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) was established to test new vehicles' safety performance and publish the results for vehicle shoppers' information. The NHTSA crash tests are presently operated and published as the U.S. branch of the international NCAP programme.


2000s

In 2000, the NHTSA released a regulation making trunk releases mandatory for new cars by September of the following year due, in part, to the lobbying efforts of Janette Fennell. In 2003, the IIHS began conducting side impact crash tests. In 2004, NHTSA released new tests designed to test the rollover risk of new cars and
SUVs A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...
. Only the
Mazda RX-8 The Mazda RX-8 is a sports car manufactured by Japanese automobile manufacturer Mazda between 2003 and 2012. It was first shown in 2001 at the North American International Auto Show#2001, North American International Auto Show. It is the direct s ...
got a 5-star rating. Also in 2003, the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on automobile safety regulations. NHTSA is charged with writing and enforcing Feder ...
(NHTSA) introduced a female counterpart crash test dummy of Hybrid III. This dummy was just a scaled-down version of the original Hybrid III, only representing the smallest 5% of women based on mid-1970s standards. In 2009,
Citroën Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...
became the first manufacturer to feature "Snowmotion", an Intelligent Anti Skid system developed in conjunction with Bosch, which gives drivers a level of control in extreme ice or snow conditions similar to a 4x4. In 2009, NHTSA upgraded its roof-crush standard for vehicles weighing 6000 pounds or less. The new standard increased the crush load requirement from 1.5 to 3 times the vehicle's curb weight.


2010s

From 2011, new cars should have brake assist system in the EU, according to The Pedestrian Protection Regulation (EC) 78/2009. Starting in 2012, all cars under 10,000 lbs. sold in the US are required to have
Electronic Stability Control Electronic stability control (ESC), also referred to as electronic stability program (ESP) or dynamic stability control (DSC), is a computerized technology that improves a car handling, vehicle's stability by detecting and reducing loss of Tract ...
. In 2014, ESP (Electronic Stability Program) and TPMS became mandatory in the European Union, with also the driver seat belt reminder and the ISOFIX system, under General Safety Regulation (EC) No 661/2009. In 2015, recognizing that safer roads are a shared responsibility, Together for Safer Roads (TSR) was formally launched to align the private sector's road safety efforts with the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety. In 2016 and 2017, ABS became mandatory on motorcycles in the EU. In 2018, eCall became mandatory in the EU, and
reverse camera A backup camera (also called a reversing camera or rear-view camera) is a video camera specifically designed to be attached to the rear of a vehicle to aid in reversing and reduce the rear blind spot. The rear blind spot has been described as a ...
in the US. In 2019, the EU legislated t
revise the General Safety Regulation (GSR)
the revision includes the following automotive safety features: *
Intelligent Speed Assistance Intelligent speed assistance (ISA), or intelligent speed adaptation, also known as ''alerting'', and ''intelligent authority'', is any system that ensures that vehicle speed does not exceed a safe or speed limit, legally enforced speed. In case ...
(ISA) * Drowsiness Alerts (DDR-AW) * Distraction Alerts * Event Data Recorders (EDR) * Advanced Emergency Braking * Alcohol Interlock Installation Facilitation (ALC) *
Tire-pressure monitoring system A tire-pressure monitoring system (TPMS) monitors the air pressure inside the pneumatic tires on vehicles. A TPMS reports real-time tire-pressure information to the driver, using either a gauge, a pictogram display, or a simple low-pressure ...
(TPMS) * Emergency Stop Signals (ESS) * Lane Departure Warning Systems * Reversing Detection (REV)
Safety-belt Warning Systems
covering all the seats in a vehicle * Vehicle Master Control Switches * Driver Availability Monitoring Systems In addition, a number of regulatory changes have been made in the update to the GSR in relation to vehicle design, in which the following have been mandated: * Enlargement of Head Impact Zones. * Reduction of blind spots for buses, vans and HGVs. * Improved easy access, for people with low levels of mobility, on buses which have a capacity over 22 persons, and which allow standing. * Regulation in relation to frontal protection systems. * Previously vans,
SUVs A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...
and MPVs were exempted from regulations pertaining to height and vehicle characteristics, these exemptions have been revised.


Safety trends

In the US, about 34,000 people were killed by traffic crashes every year from 2015 to 2020. Sharp rises in the price of fuel and related driver behavioural changes reduced 2007-8 highway fatalities in the US to below the 1961 fatality count. Litigation played a large part in mandating safer cars. Safety is a significant concern in the European Union (EU 28) with 25,249 fatalities and around 130,000 serious injuries in 2018 and 2017 respectively. Overall, between 2001 and 2018, there was an almost 50% reduction in road deaths in the EU from 55,092 in 2001 to the 2018 figure of 25,249. In 2018, the EU average road death rate was 49 people per million inhabitants. Also in 2018, Romania had the worst figures in this regard with 96 people out of a million inhabitants dying on the roads, Belgium had the median score standing at 52 deaths per million, and the UK scored the best with 28 people out of every million dying on its roads.


International comparison

In 1996, the US had about 2 deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles, compared to 1.9 in Germany, 2.6 in France, and 1.5 in the UK. In 1998, there were 3,421 fatal crashes in the UK, the fewest since 1926; in 2010, this number was further reduced to 1,857 and was attributed to the 2009–2010 scrappage scheme. The sizable traffic safety lead enjoyed by the US since the 1960s had narrowed significantly by 2002, with the US improvement percentages lagging in 16th place behind those of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
,
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
,
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
,
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
, the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
, and
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
in terms of deaths per thousand vehicles, while in terms of deaths per 100 million vehicle miles travelled, the US had dropped from first place to tenth place.


US specificities

Transportation safety in the United States Transportation safety in the United States encompasses safety of transportation in the United States, including Traffic collision, automobile crashes, Aviation accidents and incidents, airplane crashes, Train wreck, rail crashes, and other m ...
is monitored by various agencies. Research on the trends in use of heavy vehicles indicate that a significant difference between the US and other countries is the relatively high prevalence of
pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a Truck_classification#Table_of_US_GVWR_classifications, light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin (truck), cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (th ...
s and
SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...
s in the US. A 2003 study by the US
Transportation Research Board The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is a division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. TRB's mission is to mobilize expertise, experience, and knowledge to anticipate and solve complex transportation-related challe ...
found that SUVs and pickup trucks are significantly less safe than passenger cars, that non-US branded vehicles tend to be safer than US branded vehicles, and that the size and weight of a vehicle has a significantly smaller effect on safety than the quality of the vehicle's engineering. In the US, the level of large commercial truck traffic has substantially increased since the 1960s, while highway capacity has not kept pace with the increase in large commercial truck traffic on US highways. However, other factors exert significant influence; Canada has lower roadway death and injury rates despite a vehicle mix comparable to that of the US. Nevertheless, the widespread use of truck-based vehicles as passenger carriers is correlated with roadway deaths and injuries not only directly by dint of vehicular safety performance ''per se'', but also indirectly through the relatively low fuel costs that facilitate the use of such vehicles in North America; motor vehicle fatalities decline as fuel prices increase. The US NHTSA has issued relatively few regulations since the mid-1980s; most of the vehicle-based reduction in vehicle fatality rates in the US during the last third of the 20th Century were gained by the initial NHTSA safety standards issued from 1968 to 1984 and subsequent voluntary changes in vehicle design and construction by vehicle manufacturers.


Issues for particular demographic groups


Women

The domain of
automotive design Automotive design is the process of developing the appearance (and to some extent the ergonomics) of motor vehicles, including automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, and vans. The functional design and development of a modern mot ...
has been traditionally characterized as male-dominated. As a result there has been a lack of female automotive designers in the area of automotive safety compared to male automotive designers. This leads to oversights in automotive safety and ergonomics for female consumers, who make up 62% of all new cars sold in the USA. According to the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute (IIHS-HLDI) is an American nonprofit organization. It was established in 1959, and it is noted for its safety reviews of vehicles in various simulated traffic situations, ...
(IIHS), women are less likely to get into a crash than men are. However, women are 17% more likely to die in a car crash and 73% more likely to sustain serious injuries from a crash when compared to men. In rear-end collisions, female drivers face a higher risk of whiplash injuries when compared to their male counterparts due to their lighter weight which causes them to be propelled forward more rapidly. When pregnant, women should continue to use seatbelts and airbags properly. A University of Michigan study found that "unrestrained or improperly restrained pregnant women are 5.7 times more likely to have an adverse fetal outcome than properly restrained pregnant women". If seatbelts are not long enough, extensions are available from the car manufacturer or an aftermarket supplier.


Infants and children

Children present significant challenges in engineering and producing safe vehicles, because most children are significantly smaller and lighter than most adults. Additionally, children far from being just scaled down adults, still have an undeveloped skeletal system. This means that vehicle restraint systems such as airbags and seat belts, far from being effective, are hazardous if used to restrain young children. In recognition of this, many medical professionals and jurisdictions recommend or require that children under a particular age, height, and/or weight ride in a
child seat A child safety seat, sometimes called an infant safety seat, child restraint system, child seat, baby seat, car seat, or a booster seat, is a seat designed specifically to protect children from injury or death during vehicle collisions. Most c ...
and/or in the back seat, as applicable. Within Europe ECE Regulation R44 dictates that children below 150 cm must travel in a child restraint that is appropriate for their weight. Each country have their own adaptions of this Regulation. For instance, in the United Kingdom, children must travel in a child restraint until they are 135 cm tall or reach 12 years of age, which ever comes soonest. As another example, in Austria, the driver of passenger vehicles is responsible for people shorter than 150 cm and below 14 years to be seated in an adequate child safety seat. Moreover, it is not allowed for children below the age of 3 to ride in a passenger vehicle without "security system" (which in practice means the vehicle is not equipped with any seat belts or technical systems like
Isofix Isofix (styled ISOFIX) is the international standard for attachment points for child safety seats in passenger cars. The system has other regional names including LATCH ("Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children") in the United States, and LUAS ("L ...
), whereas children between 3 and 14 years have to ride in the back seat.
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
specify that a child or an adult shorter than 140 cm is legally forbidden to ride in a place with an active airbag in front of it. The majority of medical professionals and biomechanical engineers agree that children below the age of two years old are much safer if they travel in a rearward facing child restraint.
Child safety lock A child safety lock is a special-purpose Lock (security device), lock for cabinets, drawers, bottles, etc. that is designed to help prevent children from getting at any dangerous things or contents. Young children are naturally curious about their ...
s and driver-controlled
power window Power windows or electric windows are automobile windows which can be raised and lowered by pressing a button or switch, as opposed to using a crank handle. History A small number of cars in the 1920s, such as the 1925 Flint Model E-55, f ...
lockout controls prevent children from opening doors and windows from inside the vehicle. ;Infants left in cars Very young children can perish from heat or cold if left unattended in a parked car, whether deliberately or through absent-mindedness. In 2004, the U.S. NHTSA estimated 25 fatalities per year among children left in hot cars.


Teenage drivers

In the UK, a full driving licence can be had at age 17, and most areas in the United States will issue a full driver's license at the age of 16, and all within a range between 14 and 18. In addition to being relatively inexperienced, teen drivers are also cognitively immature, compared to adult drivers. This combination leads to a relatively high crash rate among this demographic. In some areas, new drivers' vehicles must bear a warning sign to alert other drivers that the vehicle is being driven by an inexperienced and learning driver, giving them opportunity to be more cautious and to encourage other drivers to give novices more leeway. In the U.S. New Jersey has Kyleigh's Law citing that teen drivers must have a decal on their vehicle. Some countries, such as Australia, the United States, Canada and
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, have graduated levels of
driver's licence A driver's license, driving licence, or driving permit is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, car ...
, with special rules. By 2010, all US states required a graduated driver's licence for drivers under age 18. In Italy, the maximum speed and power of vehicles driven by new drivers is restricted. In Romania, the maximum speed of vehicles driven by new drivers (less than one year in experience) is 20 km/h lower than the national standard (except villages, towns and cities). Many U.S. states allow 18-year-olds to skip some requirements that younger drivers would face, which statistics show may be causing higher crash rates among new drivers. New Jersey has the same requirements for new drivers up to the age of 21, which may obviate this problem.


Medical conditions

According to a study published in 2017 in the
Mayo Clinic Proceedings ''Mayo Clinic Proceedings'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by Elsevier and sponsored by the Mayo Clinic. It covers the field of general internal medicine. The journal was established in 1926 as the ''Proceedings of the Staff M ...
, although most drivers with medical conditions were safe drivers, drivers with psychiatric conditions or substance abuse were particularly at higher risks of unsafe driving. The study also reported that drivers with neurological conditions were the majority of the entire study population (
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
) who were referred for a driving evaluation, but they were not the most unsafe drivers.


Elderly

Insurance statistics in the United States indicate a 30% increase in the number of elderly killed, comparing 1975 to 2000. Several states require additional testing for elderly drivers. On a per-driver basis, the number of fatal and overall crashes decreases with age, with some exceptions for drivers over 75. The overall trend may be due to greater experience and avoiding driving in adverse conditions. However, on a per-miles-travelled basis, drivers younger than 25-30 and older than 65-70 have significantly higher crash rates. Survivability of crashes decreases monotonically with the age of the victim. A common problem for the elderly is the question of when a medical condition or biological aging presents a serious enough problem that one should stop driving. In some cases, this means giving up some personal independence, but in urban areas often means relying more on
public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...
. Many transit systems offer discounted fares to seniors, and some local governments run "senior shuttles" specifically targeted at this demographic.


Vehicle programs

While it is usually considered that the driver has the responsibility when collisions occur, vehicle can also contribute to collisions, up to 3% to 5% of crashes. Two kinds of programs exist: new car assessment program for new cars, and vehicle inspections for other ones.


NCAP

A
New Car Assessment Program A New Car Assessment Program (or Programme) is a government car safety program tasked with evaluating new automobile designs for performance against various safety threats. History The first NCAP was created in 1979, by the United States Nation ...
is a government or institutional car safety program tasked with evaluating new car designs for performance against various safety threats. Two well known NCAP are United States New Car Assessment Program since 1978 and European New Car Assessment Programme since 1997.


Legal vehicle inspections

Vehicle inspection is a procedure mandated by national or subnational governments in many countries, in which a vehicle is inspected to ensure that it conforms to regulations governing
safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...
,
emissions Emission may refer to: Chemical products * Emission of air pollutants, notably: ** Flue gas, gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue ** Exhaust gas, flue gas generated by fuel combustion ** Emission of greenhouse gases, which absorb and emit rad ...
, or both. Inspection can be required at various times, e.g., periodically or on the transfer of title to a vehicle. If required periodically, it might be termed ''periodic motor vehicle inspection'', or
MOT test Mot or MOT may refer to: * Montserrat, UNDP country code Media * Ministry of Truth, the propaganda ministry in George Orwell 1949 novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' * ''mot'' (magazine), former German car magazine * Mot (Star Trek), a minor charac ...
in the UK, or ''roadworthiness test'' in EU directives. Typical intervals are every two years (in EU) and every year (in UK). When a vehicle passes inspection, often a sticker is placed on the vehicle's windshield or
registration plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British, Indian and Australian English), license plate (American English) or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for ...
to simplify later controls, but in some countries (such as Netherlands since 1994) this is no longer necessary. Vehicles are tested at inspection stations when due for inspection. Most US inspection decals/stickers display the month's number and the year. They are called ''testing centre'' in EU directives. Vehicle inspection exists in the United States. In Victoria, Australia, safety features checked include the structure of the vehicle, the tires (depth of tread), the wheels, the engine, steering, suspension, brakes, and lights and seatbelts.


Other safety measures

Tires should be checked regularly. Tire checking is important, because proper contact between tire and road is required for adequate vehicle control.


See also

*
Automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, Maintenance, repairing, and Custom car, modification of motor ve ...
*
Assured clear distance ahead In legal terminology, the assured clear distance ahead (ACDA) is the distance ahead of any terrestrial locomotive device such as a land vehicle, typically an automobile, or watercraft, within which they should be able to bring the device to a ha ...
*
Artificial Passenger The Artificial Passenger is a telematic device, developed by IBM, that interacts verbally with a driver to reduce the likelihood of them falling asleep at the controls of a vehicle. It is based on inventions covered by U.S. patent 6,236,968. Wherea ...
* Aurora safety car (1957) *
Automated highway system In transportation, platooning or flocking is a method for driving a group of vehicles together. It is meant to increase the capacity of roads via an automated highway system. Platoons decrease the distances between cars or trucks using electroni ...
*
Automotive design Automotive design is the process of developing the appearance (and to some extent the ergonomics) of motor vehicles, including automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, and vans. The functional design and development of a modern mot ...
* Automobile safety rating *
Vehicle blind spot A blind spot in a vehicle or vehicle blind spot is an area around the vehicle that cannot be directly seen by the driver while at the controls, under existing circumstances. In transport, driver visibility is the maximum distance at which the dr ...
*
Automobile handling Automobile handling and vehicle handling are descriptions of the way a wheeled vehicle responds and reacts to the inputs of a driver, as well as how it moves along a track or road. It is commonly judged by how a vehicle performs particularly duri ...
*
Crash test dummy A crash test dummy, or simply dummy, is a full-scale Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic test device (ATD) that simulates the dimensions, weight proportions and articulation of the human body during a traffic collision. Dummies are used by researc ...
*
Crashworthiness Crashworthiness is the ability of a structure to protect its occupants during an impact. This is commonly tested when investigating the safety of aircraft and vehicles. Different criteria are used to figure out how safe a structure is in a crash, ...
*
Criticism of SUVs Sport utility vehicles (SUVs) have been criticized for a variety of environmental and automotive safety reasons. The rise in production and marketing of SUVs in the 2010s and 2020s by auto manufacturers has resulted in over 80% of all new car ...
*
Crumple zone Crumple zones, crush zones or crash zones are a structural safety feature used in vehicles, mainly in automobiles, to increase the time over which a change in velocity (and consequently momentum) occurs from the impact during a collision by a ...
* Frontal protection system *
Defensive driving Defensive driving describes the practice of anticipating dangerous situations, despite adverse conditions or the mistakes of others when operating a motor vehicle. It can be achieved by adhering to general guidelines, such as keeping a two- or ...
*
Dooring Dooring is the act of opening a motor vehicle door into the path of another road user. Dooring can happen when a driver has parked or stopped to exit their vehicle, or when passengers egress from cars, taxis and rideshares into the path of a cy ...
*
Self-driving car A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous car (AC), driverless car, robotic car or robo-car, is a car that is capable of operating with reduced or no human input. They are sometimes called robotaxis, though this term refers specifica ...
* Emergency road service *
Euro NCAP The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven, Belgium. Formed in 1996, the first results were released in February ...
* Experimental safety vehicle *
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation that regulates the trucking industry in the United States. The primary mission of the FMCSA is to reduce crashes, injuries, an ...
(FMCSA) * Worker road safety *
Hazard symbol Hazard symbols are universally recognized Symbol, symbols designed to alert individuals to the presence of Hazard, hazardous or dangerous materials, locations, or conditions. These include risks associated with Electromagnetic field, electromag ...
*
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute (IIHS-HLDI) is an American nonprofit organization. It was established in 1959, and it is noted for its safety reviews of vehicles in various simulated traffic situations, ...
*
Intelligent car Vehicular automation is using technology to assist or replace the operator of a vehicle such as a car, truck, aircraft, rocket, military vehicle, or boat. Assisted vehicles are ''semi-autonomous'', whereas vehicles that can travel without a ...
* Lateral Support * Life Critical System *
Management systems for road safety Progress in the area of prevention is formulated in an environment of beliefs, called paradigms as can be seen in the next table. Some of them can be referred to as professional folklore, ''i.e.'' a widely supported set of beliefs with no real basi ...
*
Mobile phones and driving safety Mobile phone use while driving is common but it is dangerous due to its potential for causing distracted driving and subsequent crashes. Due to the number of crashes that are related to voice call, conducting calls on a phone and texting while dr ...
*
Motorcycle safety Motorcycle safety is the study of the risks and dangers of motorcycling, and the approaches to mitigate that risk, focusing on motorcycle design, road design and traffic rules, rider training, and the cultural attitudes of motorcyclists and other ...
*
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on automobile safety regulations. NHTSA is charged with writing and enforcing Feder ...
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National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...
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Omniview technology Surround view, also called as around view or birds-eye view, is a type of parking assistance system that uses multiple cameras to help drivers monitor their surroundings. It was first introduced in 2007 as the "Around View Monitor" parking assista ...
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Pedestrian safety through vehicle design In May 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that more than 270,000 pedestrians lose their lives on the world’s roads each year, accounting for 22% of the total 1.24 million road traffic deaths. Despite the magnitude of the problem, ...
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Risk compensation Risk compensation is a theory which suggests that people typically adjust their behavior in response to perceived levels of risk, becoming more careful where they sense greater risk and less careful if they feel more protected. Although usually ...
* Safe Driving Day *
Safety car In motorsport, a safety car, or a pace car, is a car that limits the speed of competing cars or motorcycles on a racetrack in the case of a ''caution period,'' such as an obstruction on the track or bad weather. The safety car aims to enable the ...
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Safety engineer Safety engineers focus on development and maintenance of the integrated management system. They act as a quality assurance and conformance specialist. Health and safety engineers are responsible for developing and maintaining the safe work syste ...
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Safety engineering Safety engineering is an engineering Branches of science, discipline which assures that engineered systems provide acceptable levels of safety. It is strongly related to industrial engineering/systems engineering, and the subset system safety en ...
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Smart car Smart (stylized in lowercase) is a German automotive brand, marque established in 1994. Smart Automobile Co., Ltd. is a joint venture established by Mercedes-Benz AG and Geely, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in 2019 and aimed at producing Smart-bad ...
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Traffic psychology Traffic psychology is a discipline of psychology that studies the relationship between psychological processes and the behavior of road users. In general, traffic psychology aims to apply theoretical aspects of psychology in order to improve traff ...
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Road traffic safety Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures, such as traffic calming, to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, Driving, motorists, passengers of vehicles, and p ...
* Travel safety * ''
Unsafe at Any Speed ''Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile'' is a non-fiction book by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, first published in 1965. Its central theme is that car manufacturers resisted the introduction of safety features ...
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Vehicle inspection Vehicle inspection is a Standard Inspection Procedure, procedure mandated by national or subnational governments in many countries, in which a vehicle is inspected to ensure that it conforms to regulations governing Car safety, safety, Automobi ...
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Vehicle inspection in the United States In the United States, vehicle safety inspection and motor vehicle emissions, emissions inspection are governed by each U.S. state, state individually. Fourteen states have a periodic (annual or biennial) safety inspection program, while Maryland ...
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Vehicle recovery Vehicle recovery is the recovery of any vehicle to another place, generally speaking with a commercial vehicle known as a ''recovery vehicle'', tow truck or spectacle lift. Recovery can take the form of general recovery, normally of broken dow ...
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Vehicle safety technology Vehicle safety technology (VST) in the automotive industry refers to the special technology developed to ensure the safety and security of automobiles and their passengers. The term encompasses a broad umbrella of projects and devices within the a ...
* Work-related road safety in the United States *
Road safety in Europe Road safety in Europe encompasses transportation safety among road users in Europe, including automobile accidents, pedestrian or cycling accidents, motor-coach accidents, and other incidents occurring within the European Union or within the Euro ...


References


Further reading

* * * * * * ''Physics Today'', January 2006, "Vehicle Design and the Physics of Traffic Safety" *


External links


European safety ratingsAutomotive Safety

National Transportation Safety Board
(US)
National agency for Automotive Safety & Victim's Aid (NASVA)
, Japan
''No More Flying Glass When Vehicles Collide''
Popular Science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
monthly, February 1919, bottom page 27, Scanned by Google Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Automobile Safety Road safety