Five elements to ensure car safety

Professional automotive electronics and machinery manufacturers tend to emphasize active safety. Brand car manufacturers often promote the passive safety of their products, but there are two major differences between "hard" and "soft". In recent years, the widespread use of some professional safety equipment has made the "equipment" begin to attract the attention of the public. In addition, experts also emphasized the role of human factors in vehicle safety. The following is a comprehensive review of the five major factors affecting automobile safety.

1. Active safety

Active safety is actually very simple, it is to control the car as freely as possible. Both the braking and acceleration in the straight line and the left and right directions should be as smooth as possible, so as not to deviate from the established route of travel, and it does not affect the driver's vision and comfort. Such a car, of course, has a relatively high ability to avoid accidents, especially to ensure the safety of the car under emergency conditions. The development of modern technology has enabled some devices to help the daily braking or driving system of the car to improve its active safety:

Anti-lock braking system (ABS): ABS is An-

ti-lockBrakingSystem abbreviation. Most cars are currently equipped with ABS. When encountering emergency braking, it is often necessary to stop the car immediately, but vigorous braking is prone to the situation of wheel locking-such as the front wheel locking causing the car to lose its turning ability, the rear wheel locking is prone to tail dump accidents, etc. The installation of ABS is to solve the problem of wheel locking during braking, so as to improve the stability of the car during braking and the braking performance of the car under poor road conditions.

Electronic braking force distribution system (EBD): EBD can automatically adjust the braking force distribution ratio of the front and rear axles when the car brakes, and cooperate with ABS to improve the braking stability. When the car is braking, the friction between the four tires and the ground is different, which is easy to cause skidding, tilting and vehicle rollover accidents. EBD uses high-speed computers to sense and calculate the different grounds to which the four tires are attached, brakes with different methods and forces according to different conditions, and continuously adjusts to ensure the stability and safety of the vehicle.

Traction Control System (TCS): TCS is also called tracking control system. When the car brakes on a smooth road, the wheels will slip, and even the direction will be out of control. Similarly, when the car starts or accelerates rapidly, the drive wheels may also slip, and the direction will be out of control and dangerous on smooth roads such as ice and snow. TCS relies on electronic sensors to detect the driving conditions of the wheels and continuously adjust the power output so that the wheels will no longer slip and improve acceleration and climbing ability.

Electronic Stabilization Device (ESP): Electronic Stabilization Program (ElectronicStablityProgram) is a traction control system that not only controls the driving wheels, but also the driven wheels. If the rear-wheel drive car often oversteers, the rear wheels will lose control and flick, and ESP will stabilize the vehicle by moderately braking the outer front wheels. In order to correct the tracking direction when the steering is insufficient, ESP will brake the inner rear wheels to correct the driving direction.

With the development of electronic technology in recent years, various automotive intelligent safety systems have also begun to develop, mainly through "predictive sensors" composed of radars and cameras, to judge driving hazards and help drivers deal with them. This system can automatically intervene to ensure safety immediately before the car collides with other objects.

2. "Soft Protection" of Passive Security

Passive safety refers to the protection of the occupants in the car after an accident. Today, this concept of protection extends to all people and even objects inside and outside the car. Since the international automotive industry already has very detailed test details for passive safety, passive safety can be quantified to some extent. But in this regard, different companies have different emphasis.

Based on the safety collision test of Japanese auto companies such as Toyota, it emphasizes the importance of safety design, which is called the "soft protection school" by many car enthusiasts. Studies have shown that in road traffic accidents, most of the collision energy is absorbed by the body. Under the guidance of this idea, the protection of the occupants in the car during a collision accident is mainly achieved by the collapse of the car body structure, and the permanent deformation of the predetermined folds can absorb most of the external impact.

Considering the trend of lightweight design of automobiles, the "soft protection school" does appear to be both effective and economical, but the results of standardized collision experiments cannot actually cover all sudden vehicle accidents, so the safety of these vehicles during extreme accident Sex still needs further study.

3. The "hard protection faction" of passive safety

From people's intuitive impression, the thicker and harder the body steel plate, the stronger the cabin structure, the smaller the amount of deformation in the event of an accident, and the safety is naturally higher. Indeed, in the collision of cars of the same size, "weight" often has an advantage. In the minds of many consumers, European cars represented by German cars are representatives of the "hard protection faction." The European car manufacturing concept is different from Japanese and Korean cars that pay attention to cost control. A large number of parts are integrally stamped and formed from a single steel plate, and double side crash plates are installed. In accidents under less extreme conditions, "hard-guard" cars may show a firmness that cannot be tested in the laboratory. Of course, there are accidental elements, and the experience and wisdom of those century-old factories are among them.

It is worth noting that the two parties, soft and hard, have been moving closer to each other in recent years, and the differences between the two have become smaller and smaller.

4. The "equipment" of passive safety

One of the latest developments in the modern automobile industry is that a large number of new electronic devices are effectively used in automobile safety systems. Taking the smart airbag as an example, a sensor is added to the ordinary airbag to detect whether the seat occupant is a child or an adult. What is the height of their seat belts and their positions? By collecting these The data is analyzed and processed by electronic computer software to control the inflation of the airbag to make it play the best role, avoid unnecessary inflation of the airbag, and thus greatly improve its safety role. Traditionally, airbags can only protect the occupants of the car. The latest cars will pay more attention to the integration of people, cars and the environment. Therefore, the protection of pedestrian safety will also become one of the factors considered by car designers. Some experts pointed out that future airbags may be deployed along the shape of the hood above the bumper, which can provide abdominal and hip protection for mid- and tall-sized adult pedestrians in the collision, while providing heads for children and short-sized adults Department and chest protection.

In addition, such as safety glass: the combination of tempered glass and laminated glass. When broken, the tempered glass is broken into many small pieces without sharp edges, which is not easy to hurt people. There are three layers of laminated glass. The middle layer has strong toughness and adhesion. When damaged by impact, the inner and outer layers still adhere to the middle layer, which is not easy to hurt people.

Pre-tightened seat belt: When a car crashes, the occupant will first tighten the webbing when the occupant has not moved forward, immediately tie the occupant tightly to the seat, then lock the webbing to prevent the occupant from leaning forward Effectively protect the safety of occupants.

Passenger Head and Neck Protection System (WHIPS): WHIPS are generally installed in the front seats. When the car is hit by the rear, the head and neck protection system will quickly inflate and expand, the entire backrest will recline with the occupant, the entire back of the occupant and the backrest will be firmly close together, and the backrest will lean backward to maximize To reduce the power of the head forward, the back and headrest of the seat will move horizontally backward, so that the upper part of the body and the head are supported and protected gently and balanced to reduce the impact on the spine and neck Force, and to prevent the injury caused by the back of the head.

Child safety seat: Designed according to the situation of children, it can effectively reduce the injuries suffered by infants and young children. This has been confirmed through years of practice.

5. Safe driving habits

It should be pointed out here that automobile safety is becoming an increasingly important issue that must be considered comprehensively. Both active and passive safety systems have a tendency to combine with each other. Experts reminded that apart from the car itself, if there is no good driving habits, the occupants are also unsafe, and even the safety equipment will not be able to play its due role. Such as driving without a seat belt, drunk driving, speeding, etc., there is no relationship with the safety of the vehicle if a dangerous situation occurs.