文章基本信息

标题：Ford Phases In Side Air-Bag System
期刊名称：Autoparts Report
印刷版ISSN：1045-1978
出版年度：2000
卷号：Jan 19, 2000
出版社：International Trade Services

Ford Phases In Side Air-Bag System

Ford Motor Co. said it will begin to install side air-bag curtains on sport utility vehicles that are designed to cover the windows to prevent the ejection of passengers in rollover crashes. The new protection system will be phased in on SUVs within three years starting with some 2001 models as optional equipment, Ford officials said.

Ford said it is responding to highway crash data that show pickups and sport utility vehicles, which have a higher center of gravity, roll over more than cars. Passengers in SUVs are four times as likely to be involved in a rollover during a serious accident as passengers in cars, according to studies.

Forty-seven percent of all fatalities in light trucks -- which include SUVs -- result from rollover, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In comparison, 22 percent of car deaths involve rollovers. More than 9,400 people died in rollover crashes in 1997, the latest year statistics were available.

"We've looked at the most threatening current driving conditions and developed new technologies to improve the protection for our SUV drivers and their families," said Helen Petrauskas, Ford's vice president of environmental and safety engineering.

The system has a sensor located between the passenger and driver seat that can measure the amount of vehicle tilt and trigger the air bag curtain. The curtain would deploy downward in milliseconds from the edge of the roof closest to the window, covering both the front and back row of seats. The curtain would remain inflated for six seconds, which Ford says is about the time it takes the average vehicle to roll over up to three times.

The curtains are attached to the vehicle using tethers at the front and back to help prevent passengers from being thrown out of the vehicle during rollovers. The curtain also is intended to reduce head injuries in side-impact crashes, Ford said. The Ford system is designed specifically for rollover protection. Many other automakers, including Ford, currently have side air-bag systems in their cars that deploy from the seat or door and are designed to protect the head or chest or both in side-impact crashes.