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On the Inside
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| A New Direction in Safety? |
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| Updated |
Jun 10, 2004 22:14:03 |
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0 | | Author | Paul A. Eisenstein |
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Laying back in the passenger seat, all I can see is the sky racing by. Certainly not the obstacle that causes the driver to slam the brakes, crank the steering wheel and send the car spinning out of control.
Finally, as we screech to a halt, I get the quick sense something has changed. For one thing, I'm sitting bolt upright with the seatbelt wrapped so tight I can barely breathe. And as I look around, I notice that the open sunroof and windows are now closed.
But that's precisely what was supposed to happen, explains Roland Bachmann, senior manager of safety for Mercedes-Benz. "Whenever the car goes beyond the point where it is stable, we want to have the Pre-Safe system activate." Pre-Safe, you see, is an all-new, high-tech approach to automotive safety that debuted on the German carmaker's updated 2002 S-Class. And over the next few years, it'll be added to other Mercedes model lines. If it works in the real world as well as it did during the test drive I recently participated in, Pre-Safe could significantly advance the cause of onboard safety.
How times have changed. It wasn't all that long ago that auto industry executives routinely argued "safety doesn't sell." Motorists, went the long held maxim, were looking for performance, comfort and styling. Perhaps in the past, but these days, it's become one of the consumer's top priorities, according to various studies. And as a result, auto manufacturers around the world are rushing to market with an array of new safety features that should not only improve an owner's odds of surviving a crash, but reduce the risk of getting into an accident in the first place.
We're not just talking about just "mom-mobiles," like the minivan, or safety-centric brands like Volvo. Mazda expects the new RX-8 sports car to earn the federal government's most rigid, five-star crash rating.
There are several ways to approach automotive safety. Some systems are designed to prevent accidents, others work to reduce impact forces once an accident occurs. The RX-8, for example, makes extensive use of computerized modeling technology, allowing designers to repeatedly "crash" digital prototypes in order to come up with the one most likely to survive a real-world accident.
The microprocessor has played a critical role in improving a motorists' odds of surviving. Despite some problems with early airbag systems, these devices have saved thousands of lives over the last decade, since they became mandatory on all new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. Some vehicles are now equipped with as many as eight separate front, side and head airbags. Ford is even adding a rollover airbag system on its SUV models. And the latest airbags are smart enough to tell whether there's a child in the passenger seat, or a small woman sitting close to the steering wheel. If so, they'll reduce airbag inflation forces or shut the bags off entirely.
But the first line of defense is to prevent an accident in the first place. And that's where computer technology has really made a difference with systems such as antilock brakes and traction control. New stability control systems can detect when a car is beginning to go into a skid and gently regulate brakes and throttle to bring it back under control. The new Volvo XC90 crossover SUV even has an anti-rollover system to detect when the vehicle might start tipping over. It responds so fast a driver likely won't even know there was a problem.
On the Inside
A New Direction in Safety
---Paul Eisenstein
With Pre-Safe, Mercedes launches an all-new safety strategy, anticipating the possibility of an accident and preparing the car-just in case. During our recent demonstration, a Mercedes test driver consciously threw our vehicle into a skid. When Pre-Safe determined an accident was likely, it quickly tightened up the seatbelts and moved the front passenger seat into the safest, upright position. Then it closed the sunroof and windows to reduce the odds of a passenger ejection, one of the most deadly things that can happen in a crash.
According to Bachmann, there'ss typically "a very long time" between the point when a vehicle loses control and a collision actually occurs. The further ahead you begin preparing, the greater the chance of preventing injuries.
In current form, Pre-Safe can only sense when you've driven beyond the limits of your own car. But by mid-decade, Bachmann notes, Mercedes plans to add "radar sensors to see what is going on around you." This could detect, for example, if another vehicle has run the red light at an intersection and will strike your car.
Mercedes is by no means the only automaker using high-tech to head off accidents. And at Convergence 2002, an auto industry electronics conference, suppliers rolled out an assortment of silicon-powered hardware that could show up in your driveway in the not-too-distant future.
Volvo recently fielded a rolling showcase of such systems in the form of its Safety Concept Vehicle. Slip behind the wheel and stare straight ahead. Guided by an infrared sensor, the driver's seat begins to tilt and slide until it is moved to the optimum position for visibility. "Ninety percent of the information received by the driver comes from outside the vehicle, so we want to enhance that," explains Christer Gustafsson, a senior safety specialist for Volvo Cars.
The concept vehicle is equipped with cameras that cover the blind spots motorists often miss in their mirrors when changing lanes. Should you drift out of your lane, a raucous alert blares from the speakers. The prototype also incorporates infrared Night Vision, which can spot objects, such as an animal or pedestrian, far beyond the range of conventional headlights.
It's all being seriously considered, says a Volvo official, and some of this technology could hit market by mid-decade. True, it's likely to add a bit to the cost of the vehicle, but when it comes to safety, that's one place motorists seem willing to spend a little extra money for. Fact is, safety does sell, and the auto industry finally knows it.
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About Paul Eisenstein
Paul A. Eisenstein has been covering the auto industry since 1979. One of the world’s most widely published automotive journalists, Paul’s work routinely appears in such publications as The Economist, Investor’s Business Daily, Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, Popular Mechanics, Automotive Industries, Cigar Aficionado, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun, Japan’s automotive daily. He’s also a regular commentator on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, and a frequent guest on a variety of other network broadcasts. Paul also serves as a member of the jury for the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards, and is a board member and past president of the Automotive Press Association. He has won a number of writing awards over the years, including a prestigious Wheels award, presented by The Detroit Press Club Foundation.
Born in Chicago and raised in New Jersey (exit 117, to be precise), he received an associate's degree from Brookdale Community College, and then, feeling an urge to see more snow, he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, graduating cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. Mr. Eisenstein currently resides in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, the smallest incorporated city in the state, with his wife, Christine Anderson, three talkative black cats, and too many computers to count. |
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