The Physics of Car Safety Systems Essay

A seat belt is a restraining device installed in a vehicle to prevent or minimize the force of an injury during a crash (“Seat Belts” 5). Although it is also known as a safety belt, the “safety” part is the key issue that is causing much controversy around drivers, manufacturers, and researchers alike. The main idea around the debate is the fact that although research indicates that when seat belts are used properly they save lives, opponents argue that mandating their use can actually cause more harm than good in some cases and is an infringement on personal rights. Car accidents are the leading cause of death for people

In this report a comparison of three Braking systems; Calliper, Drum and Disc will be made on a variety of areas including –

The modern solution is something called a roll-cage. A roll-cage is a specifically engineered frame that is located in the passenger side of any race car. The purpose is to protect the car's occupants from getting injured if they're bodies are to sway to that side in a crash.

In a little over hundred years since automobile took hold of most people’s imagination, technologies design to make acceleration faster and reaching higher speeds have evolved. Despite charges, turbo charges, twin turbo charges or NOX, there are limits, which cannot be greater by land-based vehicle in terms of speed. Not the same can be said about the rather unseen parts of the automotive evolution. The only limitation to them is in connection with the human body ‘s ability to withstand rapid decelerations. It would be a lot easier to stop a car then to make it go faster otherwise. Whether they come in form of drum brakes or as disk, the brakes have been the horsepower’s companions throughout decades, each pulling

In one or more complete sentences, explain how natural laws apply to the following scenarios: How does inertia affect a person who is not wearing a seatbelt during a collision? Before a collision occurs, a car is going a certain speed. A collision causes the car to stop or slow down drastically. Everything that is in the car will still be going the same speed that the car was going, unless it is either stopped by a seatbelt or held down in some other way. A person in a seatbelt, would stop with the car, while a person without a seatbelt would follow its path of inertia keep moving.

cceleration)). This law is in relation to crumple zones as the crumple zone decelerates and the force in which the person in the car would feel. Crumple zones and Newton’s Laws do relate to each other. As the car contents an object, it will cause the car to come to a stop or slow down gradually (1st Law). The car has a certain amount of force, which can be calculated by Newton’s 2nd Law. The result of the car’s mass and its acceleration. Because the force can be lowered by making the impact over a longer time, by making the crumple zone collapse slowly instead of an instant collision that barely decelerates, which means that the people in the car aren’t as badly affected as they would’ve been if there was no crumple zone the force is lessened

Inertia is the quality of being unchanged. If a person is not wearing a seatbelt during a collision they will not stop, the seatbelt does it so that after the collision and the car stops, the person involved could stop too.

Every day, thousands of individuals fall victim to motor vehicle accidents and obtain serious injuries. But in regards to innovations such as seat belts and airbags, this number has decreased. Safety innovations have changed throughout history. In the 1930’s, individuals were required to wear safety glasses in their vehicles, in the late 1950’s, occupants were allowed to choose whether they wanted headrests on the front seats, which we know understand to be a crucial part of a car as it prevents whiplash. More recently there have been new innovations such as tire pressure monitors and traction control which further contributes to reducing the number of roadside accidents. However, it is clear that there is still a large area for improvement.

Automobile accidents are terrible things to be involved in, even if they are minor fender benders, they are still stressful, or at the very least they are extremely annoying. What if the vehicle that you have collided with is a 18 wheeled, 80,000lb contraption of metal, rubber, and cargo? Even a ‘fender bender’ caused by a semi-truck can take the front of your car off completely. They are vital parts of the world’s economy, though they are extremely dangerous when it comes to being in an accident.

Imagine this, class gets out and it’s the end of summer session. You’re all excited, ready to finally relax after a long 8 weeks. A friend invites you to a party 15 minutes away from your house. You and your friend get in the car, but did not buckle your seatbelts and drove off. Your friend turns to you and says, “ Buckle your seatbelt.” You response, “ We’re only driving for a couple of blocks. Nothing is going to happen to us.” When suddenly a car driving on the opposite side of the street crushes into your car. The next thing you know you are in the hospital with server fractures. Meanwhile, your friend only has a few scratches. You were one of the few fortunate ones to survive a car accident without wearing a seatbelt. The seatbelt remains one of the most overlooked devices that can preserve lives. Wearing seat belts is essential to increase the survival rate in car accidents, however not everyone agrees with the importance of wearing a set belt. Three important aspects of wearing a seatbelt are help spread out any force from a collision,

Namely, the seat belt works in endless ways to shield drivers and passengers from potential danger on the road. For example, in her article concerning seat belts, Beth Orenstein mentions that in the case of a collision or accident, the seat belt performs an effective job by preventing drivers and passengers from being ejected out of the car, spreading the force out from the crash to avert any acute injuries, and helping the body slow down while the collision impact continues to affect the car (Orenstein 1). Furthermore, Tom Harris reinforces Orenstein’s facts in his own article and states that seat belts keep drivers inside their cars by working against inertia, which is “an object’s tendency to keep moving” (Harris 2). Thus, when a moving car comes to an abrupt halt, the human body is restrained by the shoulder and lap belts so as not to be hurdled out the window. Unmistakably, seat belts save thousands of lives each year and to make amplified use of this revolutionary technology can save thousands more. Given this, it is evident that the seat belt is not a mere accessory that accompanies any car; without it, fatal injuries are exceedingly probable and the risk of death is also drastically

car will accelerate and how fast it will go. Newton’s second law is the easiest to understand in relation to a car’s acceleration. Newton’s second law mathematically states Force=(mass)(acceleration) (Murphy 78). This law explains why cars that need to accelerate fast should be relatively light in weight compared to other cars. Removing mass, such as a bumper, radio or fancy upholstery reduces the weight of

to review what they can and cannot do. In normal braking, a vehicle slows as its wheels are

Along with accidents not only comes a little headache or a broken bone, but injuries that stay with you forever such as whiplash and brain damage. Most brain damage incidents occur when you are involved in a side impact collision and the side of your head hits the glass (brain injury). Side impact airbags are just one of the many ways in which this type of life threatening injury can be avoided (whiplash). There is also whiplash, which hurls your head violently, and usually results in long term disability. Since whiplash is so hard to avoid, it can only be avoided by reducing the number of accidents on the streets. Also one of the most painful and most traumatizing injuries that we encounter in accidents are bone fractures, which occur in 65% of all accidents (Bush 11). So in turn by making these cars safer we can all avoid these painful, traumatizing, life-threatening injuries.

The reason for the development of anti-lock braking system is very simple. Under braking, if one or more of a vehicle’s wheels lock then this has a number of consequences: a) braking distance increases, b) steering control is lost, and c) tire wear will be uncommon. The tangible outcome is that an accident is more likely to occur. The application of brakes creates a force that impedes a vehicles motion by applying a force in the opposite direction. During severe braking scenarios, a point is obtained in which the tangential velocity of the tire surface and the velocity on road surface are not the same such that an optimal slip which corresponds to the maximum friction is obtained. The ABS controller must deal with the brake dynamics and the wheel dynamics as a whole plant.