Pedestrian Safety Car

Most manufacturers have given attention to protecting the occupants of a vehicle and not concentrated much on the other road-users that the vehicle may have an accident with. But in the light of statistics that show a very large proportion of accidents involving pedestrians, many companies are now conducting research into protecting those outside the vehicle. In Europe too, there are discussions going on to make it mandatory for manufacturers to ensure that future car designs incorporate safety features for pedestrians as well.

As shown in the SensorCar, there is already research underway which will develop technologies to warn drivers if an accident with a pedestrian is imminent. But Ford is also conducting parallel research into reducing injuries if an impact does occur. Some of the ideas are shown in its Explorer-based Pedestrian Safety Car.

This prototype has a 1371 mm-wide (and 127mm thick) airbag installed at the front section of the car just above the bumper. Upon impact with a pedestrian, the airbag inflates within 50-75 milliseconds and covers the area between the headlamps and over much of the bonnet. Unlike the cabin airbag which deflates quickly, the bonnet airbag will remain inflated for a few seconds to give a cushioning effect. This type of airbag can reduce serious injuries to the abdomen and hip as well as the chest and head for smaller-sized people.

Besides giving protection to pedestrians, the airbag can also offer additional buffering for occupants in the other vehicle during a side collision situation. In some extreme cases, it is possible for the occupants of the other vehicle to have their heads hitting the bonnet so an airbag will offer some extra protection.

A second airbag system is installed at the base of the windscreen which offers protection to the pedestrian’s head. The system consists of two airbags about 700 mm wide and cover the area between the front roof pillars. They deploy following the impact with the front bumper airbag and take about 100 milliseconds to be fully inflated.

Because this system needs a less complex impact sensor, its development can be quite fast and it could well be incorporated in vehicles faster, hinted a Ford researcher working on the project. But further research is necessary to determine the best configuration for the airbags and a lot of testing with dummies is being done to see just how the body will travel after being hit.