CHAPTER 6: Safety In Your Car

So heres the thing, guys a nd gals: whe new (or pre-l n you buy a oved) set of wheels, the important th single-most ing is not ho w good the c sounds. Yes ar looks or , a hot colou r and flash in And whats b terior are cru eneath the h cial. ood is also im never forget: portant. But its the safety features tha the differenc t could mea e between lif n e and death .

Todays cars come with a bunch of sci-fi stuff, with all sorts of weird acronyms. And so were often clueless as to what they mean. ABS, EBD and ESP...? Go figure But these weird and wonderful contraptions all play a vital role, as Jamie McCullough, cross carlinefeature and

technology manager, Ford Asia Pacific and Africa, points out: Beyond the vehicles structure and design, there are an increasing number of safety features available which at either an individual or combinedlevel of offering serve in contributing towards enhancing a vehicles accident avoidance and/or

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Zen and the art of crash testing

New cars must pass certain safety tests before being sold. Most have a Euro NCAP safety rating (European New Car Assessment Rating). Or, if its Australian, an ANCAP (Australian New Car Assessment Program) rating. For cars tested before 2009, Euro NCAP has three ratings: adult protection, child occupant and pedestrian protection. These ratings are achieved from three impact tests: frontal, side and pole test. Separate pedestrian tests will score the pedestrian rating. Euro NCAP also rewards cars with intelligent seatbelt reminders. Since 2009, Euro NCAP has released only one overall star rating for each car, with a maximum of five stars. This comprises the scores in adult, child and pedestrian protection, and safety assist. The tests are identical to pre2009 ones, with the addition of a test

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occupantprotection performance. Ford is a safety leader; you can see it in our innovations that help customers avoid crashes or protect them if one is unavoidable. And so, its important to buy a car that has as many of these features as possible not that all young drivers remember to prioritise. Picture Jack in the showroom, or used car lot, inspecting the gleaming array of fine machinery. And theres the salesman trying to sell him that cool hotrod, which is chromed to the hilt and emits a firebreathing roar when you step on the gas. Wise Jill, whos often sharper than Jacks buddies realise, asks how safe it is. Well, its got seatbelts, the salesman announces proudly. That is a good thing: according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), seatbelts reduce the risk of fatality and serious injury by 50 percent when used by drivers and front-seat passengers. Seat belts are your first line of defence against injuries or death, declares David L. Strickland, administrator, NHTSA.

talities which fa reduced a g e by Percent s c a n be us injurie age. and serio us seatbelt hanks to t

for whiplash neck injury protection in rear impact. Also, Euro NCAP rewards not only seatbelt reminders, but also speed limiters and standard fitment of ESC. So how do they do crash tests? The frontal impact test takes place at 64 km/h, and readings taken from the test dummies assess the protection given to adult front occupants. Contact between the occupant and intruding parts of the passenger compartment is the main cause of seri-

ous/fatal injuries for buckled-in adult occupants. The 64 km/h test speed represents a car-to-car collision with each car doing about 55 km/h. Steering wheel-mounted airbags are quite critical, and Euro NCAP encourages seatbelt pretensioners, load limiters and dual stage airbags. So essentially, the more stars out of five your car has, the better. Drive a superstar and your chances of surviving the roads are better.

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But, of course, seatbelts are a given today. The salesman shouldnt be so proud. Its actually an old car: truth be told, its a bone-rattler of note. Jill shakes her head. Uh-uh. She prods Jack in the ribs, and points to a newer, bigger, but infinitely less flashy vehicle. How about that one, she asks. And with

Strapped for cash? Here are the most important safety features in any car:
Seat belts: With all of the technological advances, seat belts are still the top life-saving device in cars today Anti-lock braking system (ABS): it prevents the wheels from locking during braking; you have far more control over your vehicle as a result Electronic Stability Programme (ESP): this is a very clever electronic system that steps in if your vehicle is about to skid out of control; it takes over by selectively applying the brakes and helps prevent things from going pear-shaped Crumple zones: this is a structural feature of your car; it compresses during an accident, thereby absorbing the energy and minimising the impact of the accident on people sitting in the car Airbags: these are, quite literally, bags of air that inflate in milli-seconds if you have an accident; they help prevent you from knocking your head on the dash, for instance A well trained driver: you can never ever have too much training; it needs to be coupled with the right attitude out on the road

relief, Honest Bob (as hes known) lists the cars safety features. Theres ABS, he says, or an anti-lock braking system. This helps prevent the wheels from locking during sudden braking, like when you slam on anchors when a driver in front of you stops unexpectedly. By allowing the car to slow in a more controlled manner, ABS helps maintain steering control. Some ABS systems include brake assist, which senses emergency braking by detecting the speed or force at which you press the brake, boosting the power as needed. Under certain conditions, brake assist can reach the braking force needed to activate the ABS faster, and help reduce stopping distance by eliminating the delay caused by not braking hard/soon enough. He says the car also has ESP, or an Electronic Stability Programme, which means drivers are better able to control the car in intense steering manoeuvres.

Times to take extra care

Venture out onto the road and youre taking your life into your own hands: we all know that. But there are high-risk periods, when you really should be extra careful. According to the Automobile Association of South Africa, this is when accidents are statistically the most likely to occur: Between dusk and dawn During morning and evening peak traffic At closing time for bars and clubs Late in the week and at weekends when the use of alcohol increases On public holidays and weekends when many motorists are paying more attention to sightseeing than to proper driving

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ESP helps prevent a car from spinning out by constantly monitoring and applying braking force to one or more wheels as needed. It has crumple zones. This means that, in the event of an accident, the cars body parts are designed to absorb the energy from a crashs impact. As a result, the passenger compartment is not as badly damaged, which means the driver and passengers are less likely to be injured. It also boasts a high amount of ultra high strength boron steel in its door intrusion beams, which helps protect occupants in side-impact collisions. Boron steel is very good news for road safety because it delivers a rigid, yet lightweight passenger cell, providing greater side and frontal impact protection. I read an article about this steel, Jill tells Jack proudly. The use of these high-strength steels has helped Ford perform extremely well in crash tests, earning its vehicles more U.S. government five-star safety ratings than any other brand!

Theres also a host of airbags that help protect you in the event of an accident. Depending on the impact speed and the stiffness of the object struck, front airbags inflate to help reduce the risk of occupants hitting the dashboard, steering wheel and windshield. Side airbags reduce the risk of you hitting the door or objects crashing through it. Some cars have head airbags, which deploy in side impacts, while some deploy during rollovers. Both provide additional protection to help reduce head injuries. Then theres AWD, or all-wheel-drive, which distributes power to both the front and rear wheels to maximise traction. This means that youre less likely to go barrelling off the road. Jack and Jill decide its a no-brainer. The cool hotrod is rejected in favour of the far more sensible vehicle. Honest Bob has done it again: Jack and Jill are sold. Sos the safety conscious car!

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