Safety in the Car
| Author | Paul Harris |
| Published date | 01 January 1972 |
| Date | 01 January 1972 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X7204500106 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
CHIEF
INSPECTOR
PAUL
HARRIS
Somerset and Bath Constabulary
Motoring Correspondent
of
The Police Journal
SAFETY
IN
THE
CAR
Having looked at some of the dangers of windscreen glass it is
perhaps appropriate now to consider ways of avoiding contact with
the glass in the first place. Safety inside the car is a vast subject and
I am compelled by lack of space to take account only
of
some of the
more important aspects. The majority of collisions involve a frontal
impact with either another vehicle or some solid object such as a
lamp standard or bridge parapet. The frontal impact is particularly
relevant in relation to windscreen glass injuries and it is only this
type of collision which is at present being considered.
It
can be said that there are two main ways of tackling the problem
of rising road accident casualties amongst vehicle occupants. The
first, and most desirable, method is to stop them happening in the
first place. When this fails thoughts must be turned towards provid-
ing the best possible life-preservation designs and systems within the
vehicle itself. Improvements in general car design to suspension,
brakes, tyres, steering, comfort, ventilation and lighting have all
contributed to safer cars which are less likely to land the driver in
difficult situations. Manufacturers have gone a long way towards
providing even the most incompetent driver with a tool which can
be used on the roads with reasonable safety. Improved driver training
is desirable to go hand in hand with vehicle improvements and it is
regrettable that cost, lack of suitable instructors and lack of time to
carry out a national programme preclude such action. Indeed, there
are now so many licence holders that it would be a truly mammoth
task to properly train every driver and it can only be considered as
a long term project taking some twenty to thirty years. The law on
driving instruction has been generally tidied and we can now be
fairly sure that the standard of instruction given to new drivers is
rather higher than it was some five years ago. Despite all this cars
will still become involved in accidents to some degree and accepting
this the next step is to ensure that the interior is less injurious to its
occupants.
It
is this aspect that I wish to emphasize.
A moving car and the passengers within it (as well as any other
loose objects) are all separate masses of energy. When the brakes are
JanuMy19n 37
To continue reading
Request your trial