Kind: captions
Language: en
After years of planning, a team of
automotive experts has achieved
something
extraordinary, successfully executing a
controlled multi-car pileup. Eight real
vehicles driven by remote control from
specially adapted compact cars. Four of
the remote drivers had no idea their
vehicles were about to be involved in a
huge accident,
600 m, while the other four were there
to make sure they were.
The minivan was driven by Chunwi, one of
James' team drivers. During the crash,
it experienced multiple
collisions. And from the wreck, it's
clear a major safety device came into
play.
Airbags. The airbags used in today's
cars originated in Japan in 1964.
So a Japanese engineer called Kaborisan
came up with the idea of using a
chemical impellant to create a
controlled explosion and generate a lot
of gas in a very short
time. Later airbags were developed to
inflate in around 30 milliseconds and
were introduced into high-end vehicles
in the 1970s.
Today, they're a standard safety feature
in every new
car, but they have their limitations.
Airbags are designed to deploy once
during a crash. So, for subsequent
events, they're not going to have their
full effectiveness.
If the same airbag deploys a second time
while an occupant is already cushioned
against it, the controlled explosion
could injure rather than
protect. The occupants of this minivan
would have encountered this problem
since it experiences multiple
impacts. Its first point of contact is
with the parked black Audi A6 towing the
camper.
It's at this point the front airbags
inflate, but then it slams into the
parked blue Ford C-Max, cannoning the
C-Max into the tractor trailer's
cabin. Here, the minivan's side airbags
deploy.
It then smashes into the tractor cabin
itself and finally collides sideways
with the truck's
trailer. The front and side airbags
deploy during the first two
impacts. However, since they are
designed to deflate quickly to avoid
trapping or suffocating injured
occupants, they offer less protection
during the final sideon collision.