Autoliv assists Volvo to be top-rated for whiplash protection

Autoliv assists Volvo to be top-rated for whiplash protection

(Stockholm, December 2, 2008)  - - -  Whiplash injuries resulting from rear-end
crashes are the most common disabling injury in cars. Prevention of this kind of
injury is very important and therefore Euro NCAP has recently introduced a new
whiplash test.  Volvo's XC60 seat set the benchmark at the official launch of
this new whiplash test by obtaining 3.54 points out of a possible 4. This was
the highest score of the 25 seats tested. The excellent performance was due to
the second generation of Autoliv's Whip-R solution, introduced in the Volvo S80
almost ten years ago. 

During the 70s, conventional headrests were introduced. The protective effects
of these devices have been found to be small, 5-10%. In modern cars there are
three different solutions to mitigate whiplash injuries of which the best
systems can reduce injuries by 50%. The first solution is the re-active head
restraint. The principle is to reduce the backset (i.e. distance from the back
of the head to the head restraint) using the passenger's upper-body rearward
motion. A more expensive solution is a pro-active head restraint, where its
forward motion is triggered by rear-crash detection. The third solution is a
seat that uses inertia forces where the seat geometry and the energy absorption
management have been optimized. Autoliv's solution in the Volvo XC60 is based on
this re-active seat concept. 

Autoliv's Whip-R solution

The Whip-R solution uses the body rearward motion to tilt the seat back in order
to optimize the full head and body support.

Once this is established the mechanism allows controlled yielding of the seat-
back to absorb the crash energy.

Euro NCAP's whiplash test
Euro NCAP's whiplash test protocol consists of both static and dynamic tests.
The static tests look at important seat dimensions such as the height of the
headrest. The dynamic tests consist of three sled tests at different crash
pulses. To measure the whiplash injury criteria, the test dummy (a Biofidelic
Rear Impact Dummy - BioRID-2) has a specially designed spinal column that
consist of 24 “vertebrae”, just as human beings.

Next year, Euro NCAP will change its overall crash-test rating system and
whiplash protection will become part of the Euro NCAP's “five star” rating
system. Whiplash protection will contribute 4 points to the system's total of 36
points for the adult occupant protection. 

Inquiries: 
Jan Olsson, Vice President Research, Autoliv Inc. +46-322-62 62 60
Steve Fredin, Vice President Engineering, Autoliv Inc. +46-8 587 20 679


Autoliv Inc., the worldwide leader in automotive safety systems, develops and
manufactures automotive safety systems for all major automotive manufacturers in
the world. Together with its joint ventures, Autoliv has more than 80 facilities
with approximately 43,000 employees in 32 vehicle-producing countries. In
addition, the Company has technical centers in eleven countries around the
world, with 21 test tracks, more than any other automotive safety supplier.
Sales in 2007 amounted to US $6.8 billion. The Company's shares are listed on
the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ALV) and its Swedish Depository Receipts on
the OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm (ALIVsdb).