Passenger safety has really been a decisive factor in the architecture and construction of motor vehicles, especially their interiors, for about half a century now—since the mid-late 1960s, when regulations began to take force. Before that, automotive safety was a subject that popped up here and there, often more an expression of marketing hype than of any sound science. Famously, for example, in the 1956 Ford safety package of seat belts and a padded dashboard, which found few takers and led to the old quote, often taken out of context, that “safety doesn’t sell”. In this week’s Coffee Corner we look at the 1957 Aurora, presented at the time as the safest car.
On and on through the years, safety improvements have only accelerated—both active safety (including ADAS) to limit the likelihood of a collision, and passive safety to mitigate the consequences if a collision does happen. Whiplash is one of the most common such consequences, as it happens at low speed and its effects are long-lasting. This week’s in-depth article looks at how radar is helping to solve this old issue. And we’ve got some disturbing test results out of Sweden, showing that touchscreens make cars significantly harder to control.
As market conditions change at an accelerating pace, cross-pollinated technological and technical innovation are integral parts of the equation. For every new technology or technique examined in DVN-Interior, there is always a potential application somewhere else…and conversely, the automotive interior is “somewhere else” from the standpoint of another industry or market sector, so it works both directions. That’s why it’s essential we keep importing and mixing ideas from different products, markets, and people to invent better automotive interior products and services.
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Sincerely yours,