Crumple zones, airbags, safety glass, safety restraint systems and crash test dummies. These are all the things that help keep you and your families safe without you even knowing it when you’re driving along blindly to your favorite destination. All of these items though require the infamous crash test to make sure they work in conjunction with each other. Back in the day, the 1930′s and 1940′s, very few automobiles were actually put through the rigors of crash testing. However once the 1950′s hit, everything changed. Pioneers like Volvo and Mercedes-Benz helped paved the way for safer automobiles. However, there are those who still think the old stuff is tougher than anything made in the last 40-years. Therefore, the following video is dedicated to them… enjoy.

Source: Streetfire.net

The 2011 Chevy Volt. Image: © GM Corp.

There’s good news if you thought green cars weren’t as safe as their gasoline counterparts. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has just finished crash testing the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt, and has named both a Top Safety pick. That’s the highest honor given out by the IIHS, and it should go a long way towards easing consumers fears of “new” technology vehicles. Per Joe Nolan, chief administrative officer of the IIHS, “What powers the wheels is different, but the levels of safety for the Volt and Leaf is as high as any of our other top crash test performers.”

The 2011 Nissan Leaf. Image: © Nissan

Ironically, part of both vehicles’ safety is due to the use of heavy battery packs, which brings both cars curb weights on par with midsize vehicles. When it comes to occupant protection, the IIHS maintains that both size and weight influence crash damage and survivability. Per the IIHS’ Nolan, “The Leaf and Volt’s extra mass gives them a safety advantage over other small cars.” The NHTSA has yet to crash test either vehicle, so the IIHS findings give both Chevy and Nissan bragging rights for the time being.

Source: Detroit News

There are certain things that you can prepare yourself for when your behind the wheel of an automobile. For example, we’re taught from a young age to look out for other vehicles, pedestrians and to constantly scan the world around us for impending doom. Sometimes though, regardless of how alert you are, things slip through the cracks and when that happens all hell can break loose. Road debris is a major cause of accidents all over the world. One hopes that after spotting debris that suitable emergency maneuvers can be applied to avoid an incident. Sometimes however there is simply nothing that can be done. This video is not only a perfect example of just how fast things can go array, but it also illustrates how, in an instance such as this, it is truly a no-fault occurrence. What you are about to see is a bit shocking so be prepared before you hit play. Click through for the video.

The human body is both remarkably durable and remarkably fragile. It’s designed to take quite a bit of abuse, but only in certain directions: belted into a seat, in a modern car equipped with airbags, many frontal and rear impact crashes are survivable. The body can absorb a substantial dorsal or ventral impact, especially if the force is spread over a wide area (as is the case with seat belts and air bags). Cars have energy absorbing crumple zones up front and to the rear, which adds to crash survivability. Side impacts, on the other hand, have the potential of being much more dangerous for many reasons.

The human body is not designed to take a serious and sudden lateral impact. The heart, for example, can move much farther left or right in the chest cavity than it can front to back. Tear the aorta, and no amount of medical attention on the scene is going to do you much good. Cars, just like people, don’t offer much side impact protection when compared to front and rear impacts. Sure, side door beams, high strength steel and side curtain airbags have made cars safer, but cars still lack significant structure and intrusion protection on their sides. A recent IIHS study took a look at cars equipped with side curtain airbags, but scored differently for side impact protection. The results are dramatic.

Drive a car rated as “Good” for side impact protection by the IIHS, and your chance of dying in a side impact crash decreases by 70% compared to a car rated as “Poor” for side impact protection. Even a car listed as “Acceptable”, the institute’s second highest rating, is 64% less likely to produce fatal injuries, while a car rated as “Marginal” is 49% less likely to cause a side-impact fatality than one rated as “Poor”. Since all cars tested were equipped with side curtain airbags, the real difference is in structural integrity and intrusion protection. The stronger the side of the car, the safer it will be in a side impact crash.

The IIHS study is meant to drive improvements in side impact protection among automakers. Conventional methods, such as adding more high-strength steel or using additional side door beams, add weight (which is one reason why today’s cars are less fuel efficient than those of 30 years ago). Automakers must balance the need for safer cars against the need to produce light, more fuel efficient ones. Short of building cars from exotic materials (aluminum and carbon fiber, for example), there is no easy or inexpensive way to meet both demands.

Source: NY Times Wheels

Every day millions of people climb into their automobiles and go about their daily business without a care in the world. They get on the road with millions of other motorists and travel at speeds in excess of 75 mph. Cars today are wonderful machines utilizing safety features that just 40 years ago would have been thought impossible. Anti-lock brakes, crumple zones and enough airbags to turn a car into a big canoli are all measures that have been taken to make sure that you arrive to your destination safe and sound. But what about when these devices weren’t available, what were cars like then. Well, for those of you born after 1980, lets just say that they were actually pretty frightening. Sure, size did matter to an extent, but for the most part the cars of yesteryear are considered to be rolling deathtraps by today’s standards. Click play on the below videos to see what I mean, just be prepared for some graphic images.

You can find out more about today’s automotive safety standards by visiting The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

• Crash Tests from the 1960s

• Crash Tests from the 1970s / 1980s

• 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air VS. 2009 Chevrolet Malibu

The 2011 Explorer undergoing IIHS crash testing. Photo: Ford Motor Company

The new 2011 Ford Explorer is just beginning to hit dealer showrooms, and the all-new-from-the-ground-up SUV is already beginning to collect awards. This time, it’s the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s “Top Safety Pick” award, given to vehicles that earn a “good” rating in offset frontal crashes, side impacts, rear impacts and roof strength testing. Top Safety Pick vehicles must also have electronic stability control.

The 2011 Ford Explorer comes with a serious amount of available or included safety features, including the industry’s first inflatable rear seat belts, designed to better dissipate energy in a crash. In addition to electronic stability control, Ford is introducing Curve Control on the new Explorer, which will automatically brake the vehicle if it senses a speed too great for the amount of steering angle input. Optional safety features on the new Explorer include adaptive cruise control, which maintains a preset distance between vehicles with the cruise control on; collision warning with brake support, which pre-charges the braking system and advises the driver via a red LED light bar when it senses a pending collision; blind spot and cross traffic alerts and MyKey, which allows owners to set speed limits and seat belt reminders for inexperienced drivers. All wheel drive Explorers also feature Ford’s Terrain Management System, which allows drivers to set steering, throttle response and stability control for the type of terrain they’re on.

The 2011 Explorer joins seven other Ford vehicles already on the IIHS list, including the 2011 Taurus, the 2011 Fusion, the 2011 Fiesta, the 2011 Flex, the 2011 Lincoln MKS, the 2011 Lincoln MKT and the 2011 Lincoln MKZ. Congratulations to Ford on all of their 2011 IIHS awards.

By creating the new sport of Yacht Surfing, Frank was convinced that he was now on the correct path to fame and fortune.

Source: ThatWillBuffOut.com

There are some jobs in this world that I simply have no desire to try out. Heart surgeon is one, and the other is a big crane operator. It seems that every time I see one of these things they’re either falling down, toppling over, or inflicting damage on some sort of expensive structure. Now I know that we need these things, but lets face it, this has to be one of the most dangerous jobs out there. This particular incident took place in Auckland, New Zealand and occurred when this 200 tonne crane attempted to lift a new piece of bridge structure into place. Apparently the crane was placed on a platform that was specifically designed to handle its immense weight, but rains from the previous evening apparently weakened the underlying embankment thus causing it to give way. Watching the ground let loose under the cranes immense weight is pretty scary, especially when you consider that there is an operator strapped inside.

Source: Youtube.com

Automobiles are safer now than in any other time in history. Built in roll cages, crash boxes and crumple zones as well as airbags and all manner of safety restraint systems are in place to keep occupants safe from harm. In the early days speed ruled the roost and driver safety was more of an afterthought than anything else. Racers would run flat-out at speeds upwards of 100 mph in some of the most archaic machines ever made, all in the quest for victory. There were no seat belts, fire retardant suits or helmets for drivers to wear and because of this being a race car driver was one of the most lethal sporting events one could partake in. The above video shows us just how the pioneers of motor sports won, lost and sometimes even died. Be warned, some of the images are graphic, but once you see them I think you’ll be amazed at how far we’ve come in terms of the technological advancements that have been made to the automobile over the last 100 years.

Source: Youtube.com

GM has been using crash test dummies for more than 35 years and with each new variation of dummy created, our cars become safer and safer. The newest of GM’s dummies are being utilized at GM’s Anthropomorphic Test Device (ATD) lab in Detroit, MI and when you hear about the amount of technology in these guys I have no doubt that you’ll be properly amazed. You see each new dummy is equipped with 70-80 sensors each, which in turn transmits crash data at the rate of 10,000 times per second back to GM’s safety systems. The data collected tells GM engineers exactly what kind of punishment that the dummies endured during the collision tests, which in turn helps them design and build safer automobiles.

Jack Jensen, GM safety engineer and Technical Fellow states, “We design these test dummies so that they mimic real life,” he says. “Data from the dummies helps us predict the risk of injury in a real crash. The more realistic the dummy, the more accurate the test results.”

The dummies shown in the above video were used during the development of the new 2011 Buick Regal, a car that we recently tested. What the general public simply does not realize is how passionate these engineers are about automotive safety. So when videos like this become available it’s great to watch them as they give us all a little reminder about how much technology actually goes into building a modern day automobile.

Source: GM.com