Piece in the Torygraph today about an EU Directive that by 2010 all cars will have hydraulic bumpers and airbags to reduce pedestrian casualties. Manufacturers say will increase cost of an average car by £3,500. Insane.
They could make a start by banning and forcibly removing all bull bars - cost next to nothing.
I'm not even going to look at this thread again for at least a week!
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Actually flexible bullbars made of rubber/plastic could very well protect pedestrian from hard bonnet...
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>Manufacturers say will increase cost of an average car by £3,500.
Think they said that about seat belts, and euro 3, and 4 emmision levels
Its a typical manufacturer ripost 35 quid is probably nearer the mark.
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As most vehicle/pedestrian collisions are the pedestrians fault for stepping onto the road without looking, it would make more sense if all pairs of trousers sold had to have inflatable airbags built into the pockets.
Hope no one in the EU reads this, they might think it's a good idea.
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Top suggestion, very lateral thinking, certain to emerge as a directive at some stage. Either that or trousers will have to be sold with a warning label that they will not protect you in the event of (long list of hazards).
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Impact of this will be felt well before 2010.
MIRA (in UK, near Nuneaton) did a lot of the work on which this directive is based (which is due to come into force from next year for new vehicle design).
Interestingly enough, if you read the MIRA report, the major problem will come with smallish cars where the hard parts of the engine are close to the bonnet line (so there is little scope for panel deformation before pedestrian encounters sold parts underneath). BMW Z4 was mentioned as a 'problem car', as are all 4x4's. Bull bars are likely to be banned, thank goodness.
The idea that this will add £1000's to cost of a car is stupid. That is motor co. lobbyists spin. Big improvements can be achieved for zero cost, although it will have an impact on styling. Even bumper-mounted and contoured airbags are unlikely to add more than a few £100's to the factory cost of a typical car.
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Subaru are better placed than many as flat engines sit nice and low anyway. Maybe other manufacturers will go down this route. Should improve handling as well.
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Isn't this why the Pug 407 has such large overhangs at the front - to protect pedestrians a bit more?
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They get hoovered in and gobbled up by that big wide shark mouth.
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OK, am I being dumb here?
How are exterior airbags going to help in a pedestrian collision? Surely by the time they go off the impact will already have taken place? Or are they designed to cushion the second impact when the ped is thrown onto the bonnet?
I really can't see how bumper bags are going to help.
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The idea of 'bumper bags' is that inflate down and forward of the bumper. This gives a bolster effect which keeps the pedestrian body 'straight' and allows it to fall down on to the bonnet rather than being bent into a 'C' shape (with multiple fractures of legs, pelvis etc.).
The bonnet then needs to be able to deform sufficiently to absorb the impact without causing further injury - hence some 'free space' is needed under the bonnet.
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The idea of 'bumper bags' is that inflate down and forward of the bumper. This gives a bolster effect which keeps the pedestrian body 'straight' and allows it to fall down on to the bonnet rather than being bent into a 'C' shape (with multiple fractures of legs, pelvis etc.). The bonnet then needs to be able to deform sufficiently to absorb the impact without causing further injury - hence some 'free space' is needed under the bonnet.
OK, assuming that's correct and the airbags go down from the bumper to stop the feet going under the car (which makes sense), surely the best combination with this would be a curtain airbag which covers the bonnet, then it wouldn't matter where the engine was?
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Putting the engine somewhere other than the front might be a good idea then. Perhaps we should see more rear or mid engined cars as then the hard bits are well away from pedestrians? Having the boot in the front and the engine in the back wouldn't lead to many problems apart from cooling. I think the original mr2 kept a radiator and fans in the front so that the engine could still be cooled. Perhaps making use of the air con heat exchanger to cool the engine might be an interesting way to solve it or using a liquid other than water which had a higher boiling point so you could run engines much hotter. Would they then be more fuel efficient I wonder? I am sure it would help in winter and in cold climates.
Alternatively rubberised cars that pedestrians will bounce off might be good, but the risk they could be bounced into the path of another vehicle and get squashed that way instead.
teabelly
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I favour a Star Trek type deflector dish myself....
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here they go again! putting the onus on car makers/owners, 'bout time we had more stringent "jaywalking" laws, i.e any pedestrian seen or caught on the carriage way, except at a designated crossing place, should suffer an on the spot fine. can't believe they (police/gov) have missed out on this nice little earner, may even be more "profitable" than out-of-place cameras!.
billy.
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here they go again! putting the onus on car makers/owners, 'bout time we had more stringent "jaywalking" laws, i.e any pedestrian seen or caught on the carriage way, except at a designated crossing place, should suffer an on the spot fine. can't believe they (police/gov) have missed out on this nice little earner, may even be more "profitable" than out-of-place cameras!.
Most residential steets have no designated crossing places. The cost of installing them all round the country would be astronomical: to allow people to cross the road to talk to their neighbours without walking miles, you'd need a crossing every 50yards or so.
Mind you, twenty crossings every mile would have a wonderful effect on slowing down the cars!
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Am I just being cynical, or is it reasonable to expect that the first car to arrive in a neighborhood equipped with exterior airbags is ging to be the focus of attention by the local youth, giving it a good kicking from every conceivable direction to try and set the airbag off?
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this was T.I.C :-) (i'm in light-hearted mode today), however, if it was only applied to main city/town streets it would help!. this morning for example, as i drove up our main street, there must have been 12/13 people lined up at the edge of the road trying to cross at 12/13 different places, yet only 50yds away was a designated crossing (pelican) stood all lonely and alone.
why not all clump together and cross safetly at once, rather than try and run the gauntlet?.
billy.
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Easy - because that would require you to walk an extra 25 yards. No chance.
The local gymn is part of a hotel that has a HUGE car park. We've seen people battle to get into the parking spaces right next to the door, ignoring the vast empty wildnerness at the other end of the car park. Presumably this is so that they don't have to walk too far to the place where they exercise....
Sometimes I wonder if everyone else is sane and I'm the mad one.
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this was T.I.C :-) (i'm in light-hearted mode today), however, if it was only applied to main city/town streets it would help!. this morning for example, as i drove up our main street, there must have been 12/13 people lined up at the edge of the road trying to cross at 12/13 different places, yet only 50yds away was a designated crossing (pelican) stood all lonely and alone.
billy, in the same light-hearted spirit, I hope you may see why I find it amusing that someone who drives up the main street (rather than walk to destination or drive around the town) should want those who aren't clogging the the main steet with a car to walk further!
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ouch! :-)that told me!! (twas raining, and as i had tin unbrella i used it.)
billy.
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'bout time we had more stringent "jaywalking" laws,
Or force everyone to where bubble wrap when they go out.
Just think, you could pass the time popping some of the bubbles while waiting for a bus ;o)
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bubble-wrap?...don't you mean "personal exterior air-bag".
billy.
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bubble-wrap?...don't you mean "personal exterior air-bag".
Yes, but my keyboard is nearly out of ink, and I'm conserving what is left.
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Sounds fascinating, DD. Do tell us about it, at length!
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