STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 20, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Autoliv Inc., (NYSE:ALV) (SSE:ALIV) the world-wide leader in automotive safety systems, presented today two new safety systems at an international conference for Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) in Nagoya, Japan. Test data indicate that the new seat belt system, which consists of a standard 3-point belt and a supplementary 2- point belt, can be 30% more efficient in frontal crashes than the traditional 3-point belt. Tests also show that a combination of the new seat belt system and a newly designed Side-Support Airbag (SSA) could considerably cut the number of fatalities and severe injuries in so- called "far-side" impact collisions and in rollovers.
Although 3-point belts reduce the overall risk for life-threatening injuries by as much as 60-70% and seat belts save hundreds of thousands of lives every year, traditional 3-point seat belts are less efficient in rollovers and in side-impact collisions to the far side (i.e. when the occupant is sitting on the opposite side on which the vehicle is struck). In such crashes, there is a risk that the occupant's torso slips out of a 3-point belt and the head violently hits the inside of the car.
To address these problems, Autoliv has added a 2-point seat belt as a supplement to the existing 3-point belt. The new seat belt is attached to the top of the seat and crosses the regular 3-point belt. It can only be buckled after the regular belt is buckled. As an additional improvement, Autoliv has installed a new airbag at the inside edge of the seat back. This Side-Support Airbag (SSA) inflates to three liters at the height of the occupant's upper arm in far-side impacts and in rollovers. The new airbag keeps the occupant in the seat even if the occupant only uses the 3-point belt, and - if both belt systems are used - it reduces the load onto the occupant's neck in violent far-side crashes and rollovers.
Risk eliminated
Today the risk of being killed or seriously injured is about 50%, when a vehicle is struck on the far side by another passenger car travelling at 65 km/h (approx. 40 mph). In the tests of the new system, however, the conditions were set to simulate a 100% risk of life-threatening head injuries. Despite these tough conditions, the risk of such injuries was eliminated completely, because the test dummies remained firmly in the seat with an adequate distance to the vehicle's side despite a significant side intrusion.
The new system could therefore be an important supplement to existing side-impact airbags and head curtain airbags that protect occupants in the other side-impact type; i.e. crashes to the near-side. Overall side- impacts cause about 50% of all life-threatening head injuries to drivers in car-to-car collisions, according to American accident data. Head injuries are as common in far-side impacts as in near-side impacts.
The new systems were also tested in the most frequent type of rollover. They represent 60% of all rollover accidents in the U.S., where they cause 130,000 serious head injuries every year to belted occupants alone, disregarding the unbelted occupants who will not be helped by better seat belts. In these tests, the force by which the head hits the inside of the roof was reduced by more than 50%, when the pre-crash head- to-roof distance was 100 mm (approx. 4 inches), and the risk was eliminated completely when the distance was 120 mm (approx. 5 inches). The typical head-to-roof distance is 100-120 mm for a mid-size male.
These laboratory tests did not take into account the risk of a roof collapsing. But vehicles' roofs have already become stronger and this trend continues. The new 3+2-point belt with the Side-Support Airbag could therefore offer vehicle manufacturers a new opportunity to take advantage of their investments in stronger and safer body structures.
30% less risk
There is an increasing need for better seat belt systems that distribute the restraining forces over a wider area of the occupant's body. This is due to the fact that in many countries the driving population is getting older and a 60-years occupant can take only half as much load on his bones as an occupant in his twenties. In addition, there is a tendency to make the vehicles' body structures stronger with each new model. This makes vehicles even more crashworthy of course, but it also increases the inertia forces on the occupant in a crash - inertia forces that require seat belt systems which are better tolerated by the human body.
One change that has been suggested is a 4-point seat belt. But you need both hands to buckle them, which could reduce the use of seat belts and consequently lead to more people being killed than with current seat belt systems.
Just adding a 2-point belt to the existing standard belt could therefore be a better alternative. People will then always have the same protection as today. In addition, they can reduce the risk of receiving life-threatening injuries by up to 30 % according to the test results.
ESV Paper
The full research paper with the test results is available at www.autoliv.com under R&D / Reports & Papers.
The paper was presented at The Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV), which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The ESV conference is held every second year and hosted by local governments in various countries: in 2003 by the Government of Japan.
Illustrations
Photos and a film from the tests are available at www.autoliv.com/news. For high resolution photos, please contact annika.scholin@autoliv.com
Inquiries:
Professor Yngve Haland, VP Research, Autoliv Inc. Tel. +46(322)626307, (mob) +81(90)8339 7239 Associate Professor Ola Bostrom, Project leader. Tel. +46 (322)626342
This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net
The following files are available for download:
http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/05/20/20030520BIT00280/wkr0001.doc
http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/05/20/20030520BIT00280/wkr0002.pdf