| Show Experimental Car Crashes At 50 Per Recently the world's most expensive car crashed head-on into a cement barrier at approximately 50 miles an oie headlight popped out and the left front fender was somewhat A further look indicated the bumper was a little worse for wear and the right front fender was a bit THE HOOD and doors stayed closed and could be opened after the In a standard car was demolished almost beyond recognition in the It is unfortunate that you and I are not going to be able to buy one of these cars for at least four or five ome four and a half million of highway safety funds went into developing this one of a number being built in the effort to make driving on our highways safer for This car built by Fairchild a large airplane underwent exhaustive tests for months before it was finally INSIDE were three dummies elaborately wired to instruments which recorded every stress on The three dummies were hurled into the shattering but not penetrating and one of them would peen killed Been The basic flaw in the demonstration was the failure of much publicized air bags to inflate and hold the bodies or dummies in A few weeks earlier a test was run by American Motors Corporation which produced much the same The safety car itself suffered little The air bags seemed to be a few thousandths of a second too soon and failed to protect the THE FAILURE of air bags to protect the dummies used in these two tests has prompted Fred President of the Utah Safety to urge motorists to get in the habit of using their safety These two experimental cars represented the ultimate in safe vehicle according to But had you or I been an unbelted passenger in we certainly would have been UNTIL something better is the simple safety belt is still the best bet for surviving a traffic The experimental cars proved a passenger car can be built capable of withstanding a 50 mile an hour crash into a cement many of the techniques used can bei applied to tomorrow's pas-s prohibitively America's major automobile manufacturers have been working on such cars for some both on their own and under government It is reported that Japan and Sweden are also involved in the building smaller versions of the safety car for All are trying to save their place in the United States market by meeting the standards established by the United States THESE include being able to stop within the feet from a speed of 60 miles an ability to make sharp turns up to 70 miles an hour without and the capability of withstanding a complete rollover at 60 to 70 miles an The cars must also be built to survive 70 miles an hour rear end 30 miles an hour side impacts and have a spilt proof gas Some vehicles will have new periscope type rear view mirrors protruding from the top of the Anti-skid devices fitted to brakes will also probably be a common BUMPER systems on the various models may vary but all aim for undergoing a 10 mile an hour crash with no damage at Some front bumpers move out a foot when the car picks up speed to give an extra margin of It is reported that the Swedish model pops up head restraints and pulls the steering wheel out of the way in the event of a SEVERAL models have safety belts that automatically strap the passenger down when the doors Some have rear lights which show green when the accelerator is amber when you lift your foot from the accelerator and red when the brake is applied with extra red stop lights mounted in the rear window for greater Countless millions of dollars are being spent to develop safe cars for tomorrow and safety features which prove their worth will probably show up in future COST IS a definite in fact in some a prohibitive Germany's already a high priced would cost double the present prices if all the features of their safety vehicle were put into The question can be it worth We can talk about that just for a In the state of our accident costs are approximately an Even if a car with new safety features was put on the market next week at competitive it would probably be years before all of us were riding in In the treating highway travel for what it potentially dangerous would help a IF EACH of us faced the fact that a crash could be just around the bend wherever we we would drive as well as we know how and maybe the super-safety car would not be A little common sense on the part of Utah motorists may help determine how many passive restraints will have to be built in the car of tomorrow in a few |
