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In The News

Every day the ARC Network updates the web site with valuable, important industry news. Following are a few articles from last month.

 

Ford Tests On-Board Crash-Notification System Ford Motor Co. is testing an on-board automatic crash notification system with a fleet of vehicles in Houston in a two-year pilot study to determine the system's potential in the marketplace. Vehicles equipped with the system automatically send a signal to its response center in the event of a crash. A response-center operator, in turn, electronically transmits the data to the appropriate public-safety answering point and establishes a voice link between the vehicle and the operators. The same data also are received on a screen at the 911 call center, to provide critical details of the crash to operators, including whether the air bags were deployed, which seats throughout the vehicle are occupied, and if the occupants were wearing seat belts.summer, show the Ford crash notification system can deliver vital safety information from crashed vehicles to 911 operators in less than 60 seconds from the moment of impact, said Maria Sheler-Edwards, a Ford spokeswoman in Dearborn, Mich. Read the full article

TRW Unveils Industry-First Occupant Vision System TRW has announced that it is developing a revolutionary interior vision system with the capability to accurately sense occupant size and position and deliver real-time reactions to protect passengers. "One of the biggest challenges facing the occupant safety industry today is the new FMVSS 208 regulations regarding out-of-position passengers in the vehicle," said Doug Campbell, vice president, Occupant Safety Systems, TRW Automotive. "A number of companies, including TRW, are developing indirect sensing systems primarily based on weight sensors to not only determine the size of the passenger, but to try and predict if and when these passengers are considered out-of-position, meaning that a portion of their body is so near to the airbag that it can cause injury. This is particularly significant when children or small stature adults have their heads near the airbag when it deploys." Read the full article

USDOT Releases 2001 Highway Fatality Statistics; Deaths Among Children Down to Lowest in History Motor vehicle crashes in 2001 claimed the lives of fewer children ages 15 and under than any time in record-keeping history, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced today. The fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) decreased slightly. It was 1.52 in 2001, a small reduction from the final 2000 rate of 1.53. The total number of people killed in highway crashes in 2001 was 42,116, compared to 41,945 in 2000. However, the drop in the 2001 fatality rate occurred because fatalities remained relatively constant despite an increase in vehicle miles traveled. In 2001, vehicle miles traveled increased slightly to 2.778 trillion, up from 2.75 trillion in 2000, according to preliminary estimates from the Department's Federal Highway Administration. Read the full article

U.S. safety regulators examine BMW air bags U.S. safety regulators have opened an investigation into about 204,000 cars made by BMW AG (Frankfurt:BMWG.F - News) after reports of 41 injuries from side air bags deploying without a crash, a problem BMW has tried to address in two recalls. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Tuesday it also had opened or broadened several other investigations involving possible safety problems with a variety of vehicles and tires. NHTSA said its investigation covers BMW 3-Series vehicles built between April 1999 and April 2001. It said its records and others from BMW show 265 complaints of side air bags that could go off if the vehicles were driven over potholes, curbs or other objects. BMW also reported 212 warranty claims for side air bags. NHTSA said the 41 injuries were mostly cuts and bruises. There have been no reports of deaths. Read the full article

GM Recalls 720,000 Vehicles for Air Bag Problems General Motors Corp. on Monday recalled about 720,000 vehicles to fix two problems that could cause air bags to malfunction in a crash. One recall covers about 570,000 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, as well as Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL sport utility vehicles, all built between February 1999 and February 2000. GM said the trucks had air bag sensing and diagnostic modules that could interfere with air bag deployment. The world's largest automaker said it was investigating whether nine reports of air bags failing to deploy in crashes were linked to the problem that triggered the recall. A company spokesman declined to say whether those reports involved injuries or fatalities. But a U.S. government database of vehicle safety complaints from consumers shows 37 reports of air bags failing to deploy in crashes of the recalled vehicles. including 30 injuries and one fatality. Read the full article

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