Side Impact Protection and Crash Testing

Written by N.N

Source: http://apvtechcentre.com/uploads/pageImage-Tech-Crash-Testing.jpg

Side impact protection serves to keep the passengers safe in event of a side crash. This includes enhances extra features in the car such as longer curtain airbags or stronger side bars. It is a general term used to describe features designed to protect the passenger from side injuries.

Crash testing is basically a simulation of a car crash. It is used to help determine whether or not certain safety features work, whether they need improvement or even just to find more information about the car concerned. Crash testing also takes place so that companies can test the safety levels of their cars/products. The star rating system is also allocated as a result of the crash testing.

Dummies are used to mimick the role of the passenger in the car and are cabled with sensors and other complex instruments to measure the force passengers feel during a crash and the posibilities of injury. Each dummy varies to the crash testing, for example, when testing the effects of frontal car crashes, the dummie has sensors focuses on the chest area, the neck, the head and the legs.

Though crash testing is not completely accurate and does not show all the potential possibilities, it is reliable in the fact that we have a fair idea of all possible injuries and this information is used to better our car safety features. Crash testing used to be unreliable as there were often random or human errors but over the years, we have been able to have a more controlled environment when testing cars and their safety features.