From todays Straits Times,Singapore.:
LONDON - Scientists have developed a 'pop-up' car bonnet which they say will reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries when pedestrians are hit.
Many pedestrians involved in collisions are thrown into the air and sustain serious or fatal injuries when they land on the cars and their heads hit the bonnets, which are reinforced by the engine blocks underneath.
A new bonnet designed by researchers at Ford, however, has sensor technology that lifts it off the engine when the car is in an accident, so softening the impact of the bonnet on a victim's head.
The company has also designed a bumper with layers of foam to reduce damage to pedestrians' legs and an 'undertray' that will stop them being dragged under the car - another frequent cause of death and serious injury.
Adding to the new safety features, Ford has produced a headlamp surround with a 'deformable' housing that pushes the lamp into the body of the car in a crash, so that the lens cover does not break and cut pedestrians' legs.
The devices were researched and designed by British, German and American engineers at Ford's research centre in Aachen, Germany.
First to be offered as an extra at about £600 plus, then do doubt as standard.
Do we really need all this technology?
DVD
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Would you prefer to bit hit by a car equipped with these features, or one without?
Andy
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Gizmos go wrong, that's for sure. But I do think that very little effort has been put into making cars safer for those on the outside. A kid I was at school with was hit on a zebra crossing by a car trickling along in traffic. He had serious head injuries from a wiper pivot, and lost hearing in one ear, although he had no other injuries. It was the kind of daft accident that wouldn't have had any consequences if it hadn't been for poor design. Wiper pivots are often hidden these days, but they put a nice hard raised edge on the bonnet instead to improve aerodynamics. Progress?
Chris
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I find £600 a bit hard to swallow. Given the choice of some nice alloys or this
new bonnet, I think you'll find most people would plump for the alloys.
I'm not sure that I could afford to splash out that amount just in case some
idiot decided to walk out in front of me.
The sort of people who would pay for this would probably be responsible drivers anyway. You'll still have your boy racers and your jeeps with bull bars
out there.
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Maybe it also makes sense for automotive designers to keep one step ahead of the nanny police. Better to design this stuff into new models now in ways where the maker has the control, rather than wait for the Euro seat-warmers to ram it down our throats in some less digestible form. Better than MGB Rubber Bumper Syndrome methinks.
One could make an argument that R & D money on this goes a lot further than adding pointless accessories.
Aside from all this it constitutes selling features and is a competitive move I guess.
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I posted this because when I read it,no way being anti pedestrian, my immediate reaction was hey-up the car driver again. Go down any High Street where you will notice Pelican Crossings etc. ignored by a large majority of pedestrians who cross the road anywhere heedless of oncoming traffic.
I wonder if the same amount of money if spent on Pedestrian Education and Responsiblity, a similar reduction in injury could be obtained.
And what happended about the proposal in the 50/60's to make Jay Walking an offence. Understand it is in in USA and Singapore.
DVD
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On the way to work this morning I had to avoid an elderly lady (well, older than me anyway) crossing the road SIX FEET away from a traffic island.
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Brian
Presumably this was because if she was no spring chicken, she obviously couldn't be a Rhode Island hen .....
DD
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