Citation

Stapp JP. Proc. Am. Assoc. Automot. Med. Annu. Conf. 1961; 5: 259-263.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1961, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Please understand that I am not trying to advance the concept of integrating safety into the design and fabrication of automobiles as a new idea, because it isn't. I am only trying to emphasize it as our ultimate objective for every safety idea which can be integrated. Let us look back on the last decade and see how well automobile manufacturers have applied this approach in model design. Door fastenings have evolved from latches which let doors fly open under modest impacts into secure cam locks that hold doors shut through the deformation of 35-miles-an-hour broadside collisions.

Removal of lethal projections inside and outside of the automobile is a triumph of safety over the exotic dictates of style. Replacement of metal surfaces and ineffectual padding with energy-absorbing linings on dash and instrument panels, strong seat attachments, and the continuing research on optimum frame design, are among the many examples of their continuing effort toward safety integration in automobile design. Now that the American public has been educated by airline practice and automotive crash safety precept regarding the life-saving value of safety seat belts, it is gratifying to see at least an experimental beginning for providing integrated attachment points for safety belt anchorages in almost all 1962 model cars at the assembly line. It is hoped that all the '63 models will have safety felt floor attachment points integrated for each occupant. Integrated attachments remove a major obstacle to acceptance by assuring the cooperation of dealers while materially reducing the cost to the car owner, when the installation of seat belts takes only a few minutes to seat the anchorage bolts in the standard floor points.