In the old days, car safety consisted of the words, "grab something and hold on!!!". Today, the amount of science, mathematics and technology used to create and improve safety devices is mind-boggling. A case in point is the crash test dummy.
This mannequin certainly looks inconspicuous, but if you got to look underneath the "skin", you will see miles of color-coded wires connected to several parts of the dummy enough to rival the system of veins in a human body. Even more daunting is the fact that those wires function as a nervous system that transmits data to a computer. The computer is programmed in such a way as to recorded G forces, strain and thresholds, which are mathematically calculated to determine what types of injury a person can acquire after a crash. This is done several times with the dummy to simulate different kinds of crashes. This is where the crash test dummy got its name. In a queer sense, automobile drivers and passengers owe this poor dummy a life.
As far as I knew, the seat belt and air bags as well as sidebars on the vehicle are those things that protect you in a road accident. I never thought that the dummy contributed to any of these safety improvements.
Science has really gone far to ensure safety of a person in a vehicle. It even went far out of its way to think up those infant car seats for child safety.
Recent years saw car manufacturers develop crumple zones in the body of the car. These crumple zones deliberately fold up like an accordion to reduce the g-forces that act on a human body during collisions or crashes. By minimizing the g-force, the incident of injury is also reduced.
Seat belts and air bags have become permanent fixtures of in car. Even most of the third world countries have made wearing seatbelts mandatory.
Lately, the computer itself is placed into the car to assist the driver. At certain times and places, the computer can be made to drive the car while the driver gets a break from staring at the road and given an opportunity to look at the scenery.
Safety features aside, the ultimate responsibility for car safety still rests with the human driver. Your car may be functioning properly but it certainly cannot account for any alcohol intake you might have had. |
