1140. Aspects of Occupant Safety and Comfort in Weight Conscious Passenger Car

Paper

Abstract

As a result of the unique role of the motor vehicle in today’s traffic and as a means of individual transportation, the US have a motor-vehicle population density of 1 : 1.6. The total number of vehicles Uo.nS . roads is roughly 136 million.
It should not be overlooked, though, that the total number of accidents on U .S. roads in 1974 was in the neighborhood of 15.6 million, involving 46,000 fatalities and 1.8 million injuries.
The ensuing societal damage is estimated at 7 billion. Of these, $ 51.1 billion are attributed to personal injuries (see Accident, Facts, 1975 Edition, and National Safety Council).
In view of these facts the following goals should be aimed at by motorists and. rulemakers :
– To avoid traffic accidents and to minimize the extent; of consequential damages. These efforts include the development of active and. Passive safety measures.
– To design the most comfortable vehicles possible.
– To employ useful light-weight design principles to minimize motor-vehicle cost despite safety standard compliance and maximum possible occupant comfort.
This paper is a detailed description of these tasks to be carried out by a motor-vehicle manufacturer.
A rough outline is given of the different development stages for a new passenger car. The development trends will be shown for the use of different materials in motor vehicle construction. Computer and experimental methods and processes are described that are used to determine the stresses on the individual components of design elements. The occupant seat is used as an example of possible passenger seat improvements achieved by light-weight design.
The safety vehicles developed by VW, i.e. the ESVW I and II are used as examples to demonstrate the feasibility of using lightweight design elements in the development of extremely safe and comfortable vehicles at low cost.