MUNICH (dpa) – When Mercedes began testing the forerunners of the first airbags around 30 years ago, a parrot was used as the guinea pig. Then, even kitted out with earplugs and protective goggles, the technicians could not face the exploding airbags.
Today they are fitted as standard in every car. But development hasn’t come to a grinding halt. Far from it: besides additional airbags for passengers, armrests and side windows, the latest talk is of “intelligent airbags which adjust to the nature of the collision.”A recent addition are airbags for the backseat passengers. Mercedes, BMW and Audi now provide sidebags in the rear doors of their larger saloons. BMW in Munich says that its 7 and 5 series now tot up ten airbags apiece. In the imminent future, 15 to 20 airbags in each car will not be uncommon.But it is not only the number of airbags which is decisive – more crucial by far is the right trigger mechanism to prevent the lifesaver from becoming a killer through an excessively powerful explosion.This consideration has seen the industry work on airbags which adjust their explosive force to the severity of the collision and the passengers’ seating position. Up to now, research has produced a two- stage release system in makes such as Mercedes, Audi and BMW.This type, which is regulated by collision and speed sensors, is triggered according to speed and explodes either simultaneously or a split-second afterwards to ensure a soft as possible landing for the passengers. These systems can also be adjusted to react to such factors as whether the seatbelts are being worn or if a child seat is mounted, releasing gently or violently depending.Because the dual process does not allow for individual crash scenarios, the industry has set its sights on the airbag which reacts to every situation. Since last autumn, Jaguar has equipped its XK8 with the first system that monitors passengers’ seating position and weight. Built-in “scales” in the seats register the weights of passengers and determines the force with which they will meet the exploding airbag.Three ultrasound sensors calculate the distance from the passenger’s momentary position in order to regulate the speed of the airbag’s detonation. A similar system using simpler means is already fitted in the new Ford Mondeo. The manufacturer, in Cologne, says that a circuit measures the position of the front seat in its rail so that it can draw its own conclusions on the distance from the airbag.Parallel to the development of new release strategies, new-style airbags have also come on the market. Prompting the novel developments is the realisation that the better a specific part of the body is protected in a certain type of accident, the more other scenarios edge ahead in the injury statistics.Ford recently presented a sidebag mounted over the windows that is designed to protect the passengers of off-road vehicles from the effects of a flip. The system is now being equipped as standard in the United States in the new Explorer and is expected to reach Germany by summer.The same timeframe has been set by developers of an airbag which resides under the dashboard and is designed to protect the driver from serious injuries to the feet, legs and knees. Although split safety steering wheels and detachable pedals have prevented many a broken bone, and airbags provide protection for the rest of the body, experts now register the most serious injuries to the feet and thereabouts.As the first row is well taken care of, the rear is now increasingly in the spotlight. In order to provide more protection there, by 2002 Renault will have developed a small but effective air tube for integration in the abdominal section of the seatbelt, according to spokesman Thomas May-Englert in Bruehl. If the worst comes to the worst, a safe distance to the seat in front will always be maintained.Elsewhere, other airbags in the planning display similar functionality in front-seat headrests and backrests. In the case of compact small cars such as the Smart being accosted from the rear, protective airbags in the boot could soon start appearing to spring between man and machine.
