Crash Course

Test dummies, used for crashes staged and filmed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, cost about a quarter-of-a-million dollars apiece.
That's just one of the gems that 60 members of the Greene County Chamber of Commerce learned when they toured the Institute's Vehicle Research Center last week.
Research Center Web Producer Marshie Agee took the group on an extensive tour that introduced it to the ins and outs of highway safety research.
Driving down Dairy Road in Ruckersville, past the idyllic farms and scattered private residences, one might never guess that a showroom filled with intentionally wrecked vehicles - and the wealth of knowledge that has come with them - lies within Greene County.
But enter the doors of the Institute's low-slung white stucco structure, and reality strikes.
On display in the showroom: two Chrysler LeBarons, each with a left front crumpled and crushed in a 1990 Culpeper accident.
"They were the first two vehicles in the world to be in a crash with both having driver frontal airbags that deployed," Agee said. "Even though this was a very serious crash, both drivers walked away."
The Institute, Agee explained, had long been involved in the fight to get airbags in all vehicles back when the manufacturers were waging regulatory wars against them. The crash highlighted their effectiveness.
But that's hardly all Chamber members learned during the tour.
In its quest to prevent auto crashes and reduce injuries, the Research Center focuses on countermeasures and interventions aimed at three factors -- human, environmental, and vehicular.
"Human" research addresses problems associated with teenage drivers, alcohol-impaired driving, truck driver fatigue and safety belt use, among others.
For example:, "We do studies on driver distractions," Agee explained. … "A study that came out a few years ago said that you're four times more likely to be in a crash when you're talking on your cell phone, regardless of whether it's a hand-held or a hands-free phone."
Research Center studies have also been instrumental in convincing states around the country to adopt graduated driver licensing programs for beginning teen drivers, Agee added.
Environmental research includes the assessment of roadway designs to reduce run-off-the-road crashes and
eliminate roadside hazards.
Agee gave an example of an environmental factor: "A study done early this year showed that speed cameras (had a) halo effect," Agee said. "There was a speed camera in (one town) … and 25 miles away in another town, people were still slowing down. This suggests that these cameras really do have a deterrent affect."
Research into vehicular factors is called "crashworthiness": the Institute rates vehicles as good, acceptable, marginal, or poor, based on performance in high-speed front and side crash tests, plus evaluations for protection against neck injuries in rear impacts. A requirement to get the Institute's top recommendation is that winning vehicles must offer electronic stability control.
"We buy cars from the dealership just like you would," Agee told the Chamber group. "We want to get the same vehicles that consumers are getting."
In addition, the Research Center wants their test crashes to be more like the ones drivers are experiencing.
"Maybe six percent of all frontal crashes are full head on," Agee said. "We do something that mimics the more common kind of crash that the LeBarons were in: two cars on a two-lane road; one veers over the center line, and they hit off-center."
The Research Center runs a moving vehicle at 40 miles an hour into a stationary barrier made of aluminum honeycomb, with a 40 percent overlap on the driver's side. Once crashed, researchers look at the vehicle's structure, as well as at how well the test dummy's body was held in place during the crash.
Electronic stability control is a computerized technology that improves the safety of a vehicle's handling by detecting and preventing skids. Braking is automatically applied to individual wheels to counter over-steer, and some systems reduce engine power until control is regained.
The Institute's study on electronic stability control, released in June of 2006, showed that up to 10,000 fatal crashes in this country could be avoided each year is all vehicles were equipped with a system. The study concluded that it would likely reduce the likelihood of all fatal crashes by 43 percent; fatal single-vehicle crashes by 56 percent; and fatal single-vehicle rollovers by about 70 percent.
While electronic stability control availability in passenger vehicles varies between manufacturers, and was available only in roughly 50 percent of new North American vehicles last year, folks at the Research Center expect those statistics to change.
"Only vehicles with electronic stability control are eligible for our Top Safety Pick ratings," says Agee. "And consumer awareness affects buying patterns."