It happens every day, it happens on most of the roads, it just happens and once it does the results can range from laughter on a broken stop light to a tear which we shed on a family member or a friend. And if you look at statistics presented on a yearly basis by many organizations you can see the frequency of its occurrence; I hope not, but the intensity of the numbers presented allows me to say that it might be happening as I am writing my article or while you are reading it!
When good things go bad
People call it an “accident”! It might be a miscalculation, or a bottle of scotch. It might be a phone call or a thought that quickly crosses the mind. But no matter what it is, it can be simulated by you driving, full of life and dynamically, the music is good and everything seems to be ok. A split second later you lose control, you step on the brakes and you hear that terrifying bang noise with a ton of pressure building up on your body…all of a sudden the dynamic musical world becomes a black desert of absolute silence, ashes to ashes and dust to dust!
- You see what i mean?
Safety and safety factors
Automotive safety is one of the most important topics ever discussed in the engineering industry. It’s a whole field of knowledge which not only taught us how to protect passengers of the road network but also shed lights on many other problems and led us to new discoveries and inventions. The study of safety had rearranged most of the ideas about size, weight and the material in use. Most importantly it is saving the lives of thousands every day. In our discussion today I thought I point my index on two major safety factors in a car, namely the brakes and the SRS.
Braking and some braking technology
When it comes to braking, people take it for granted. But something, few are aware of, is that braking is one of the most complex mechanisms; it’s not just the little pad that help you pause and not spend the rest of eternity looking for a pile of sand or a bush to crash into and stop. Brakes today represent a very adaptive tool in the vehicle and for this matter I will represent to you a sample of today’s braking technology presented by Mercedes-Benz after a lifetime of evolution (ABS in 1978 on the w116 model, the ASR 1987 on the W126, the ESP 1995 on the W140, and finally the BAS 1996 on the W210 model). All these modules and systems that dealt with braking control and traction were put to the help of a fine working brain called SBC or Sensotronic Brake Control. It’s a system oriented by two components: the operating unit behind the brake paddle and the hydraulic unit next to the engine in the front. The SCB, briefly, distributes the braking power on each of the four wheels in an accurate and adaptive way to counter effect the large lateral forces the outer wheels are sensing with respect to the inner wheels specially while cornering. And note that the greatest braking force is applied on the outer wheels (the front wheel is subjected to a higher brake force than the wheel in the back).such braking technology assure shortest stopping distances, ideal distribution of brake force, improved stability, superior ABS-ESP and BAS, finally it eliminate the ABS pulsation felt on the brake pedals given that the pedal is decoupled from the braking system.
- SBC from Mercedes-Benz
The white cushion we all fear
And when it comes to the SRS or Supplemental Restraint Systems, I sure hope that I will be more informative than technical. The idea of this system can be deduced from the name itself; the systems with the aim of supplementing the protection of a “well restrained” passenger, or restrained by his seatbelt. SRS systems are mainly the airbags, the car interior geometry and the material used in the dashboard that enhances the passenger safety in case of any failure or accident. And although, when we dig deep in the airbag’s historical background we can deduce that it was a technology motivated by the low percentage of seatbelt use in the USA, thus it first appeared there in the 1970’s. However, the name supplemental should be taken in great considerations; any driver should understand that the airbag does not eliminate the fact that you have to use your seatbelt, and that many of the death cases caused by airbags are cases in which the passengers hadn’t their seatbelts fastened when the bag inflated.
- Airbags contouring the passengers
Many types of airbags had been developed till now, like: the frontal, side, shaped and side torso airbags. Also the side tubular or curtain airbags like the ones introduced in the 7-series BMW in the late 90’s and the HPS or Head Protection System (standard option). One of the most sophisticated designs is the knee airbag, extremely rare; this type is found in the Lexus ISF the BMW M3 rival. In this large list of white cushions we also have the rear curtain and center airbags that were presented by Toyota in 2008 and 2009. And finally I state the seatbelt airbags that can be found as a standard option in the Lexus LFA.
For a safer world…
Again Safety is not an option, a great deal of funding and attention is oriented in the account of meaningless options and automotive systems! Spare me the ipod plug, spare me the Bluetooth system, and spare me the additional interior lighting that is barely visible even at a no moon night. The so called additional safety options should be standards in each and every vehicle. This is life we are talking about here; what is happening is like a boy walking in a shop with a coin in his pocket and this coin can only buy the poor fellow a cheap lollipop! Well It’s not the case, it is not acceptable to let our safety on the roads be judged by the size of our bank accounts. All what I am saying is that the standards of the automotive production should be raised to a much higher level of consciousness. And one more thing life is absolutely amazing, as amazing as the your BMW M5 or your Mercedes CL63 AMG and even more so drive safe!
- And yes this used to be a graceful M5
