National

How Crash Tests Help Bring Traffic Deaths Down

By Brian Naylor

Published November 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM PST

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

1 of 4

A crash test dummy sits at a workstation inside the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Vehicle Research Center in Ruckersville, Va. The IIHS crashes on average two vehicles per week.

Brian Naylor

2 of 4

A dummy is used in a demonstration test of seat-back head restraints at the IIHS.

Brian Naylor

3 of 4

These child-sized dummies are typically placed in the back seats of test vehicles. In addition to 3-, 6- and 10-year-old versions of the Hybrid III, CRABI dummies have been developed to simulate 6-, 12- and 18-month-old infants.

Brian Naylor

4 of 4

Spare parts are lined up in the IIHS research facility. Though dummies are fairly resilient to trauma, they occasionally need to be repaired or have spare parts installed. According to the IIHS, the base price for a modern dummy is $50,000 to $100,000. Instrumentation can add another $100,000 to the price tag.

Brian Naylor

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety spends about $1.5 million each year testing the safety of new cars. Its research has helped bring the annual highway deaths in the United States down to around 37,000 last year — the fewest since 1961.

At the institute's Vehicle Research Center in Charlottesville, Va., researchers usually crash two cars a week. David Zuby, a vice president of the institute, says the result is a more crash-worthy car.

"In '95, half of the vehicles we tested rated 'Poor,' " Zuby says. "Today, virtually all earn a 'Good' rating."

Become a KPBS sponsor

For its tests, the center uses crash test dummies, with greasepaint marks on their heads. After a crash, technicians note where the greasepaint leaves its mark — hopefully, it's on the vehicle's air bag.

Vice President Joe Nolan says the dummies are integral to the work of the institute.

"This guy can measure the deflection in the chest being pushed in, and also the acceleration, just the brute force, of how hard you've hit him in the neck," Nolan says of a test dummy. "It's got sensors in the top, so you can measure forces wanting to rip the head off to the rear, to the left and up, so all three forces but also all three movements."

The institute has just released its latest list of top safety picks. It's a shorter list than last year because of a new test designed to determine a car's ability to withstand a rollover.

Recently at the research center, analysts conducted a side-impact crash test on a new Ford Ranger pickup. The truck was crashed into a moving deformable barrier at 31 miles per hour.

Become a KPBS sponsor

After the test, Nolan noticed the truck's side was pretty well staved in. "Looks like a lot of deformation," he said, "and that makes it a real challenge for the air bag to protect the occupant."

But according to the readout from the dummy's sensors, if there had been a person in the cab, he or she would probably be fine.

As cars have gotten safer, automakers are now looking at technology that helps drivers avoid crashes altogether; from electronics that prevent skidding and rollovers to cameras and radar that see objects drivers might hit.

Car crashes may never completely be eliminated, but evolving high-tech safety systems could come close to making it happen.