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<\/p>\nThe crumple zone is an essential safety feature on cars, and is one of the main things that stops you from being seriously injured when you\u2019re involved in an accident that completely scraps your car. So how do crumple zones protect you from an impact that sends bits of metal flying for metres?<\/p>\n
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In a nutshell, the crumple zone is the area at the front of your car which is designed to crush in on itself when you crash. Meanwhile, you and your passenger are enclosed in a \u2018safety cell\u2019, protected from the worst effects of the collision. Here\u2019s how they work: we\u2019ll try not to get too physics-based on you, but when two cars crash, there\u2019s a lot of kinetic energy involved. Newton had a lot of rules for this kind of stuff, but what it comes down to is that if you\u2019re travelling at speed, you\u2019ll stay travelling at speed unless something stops you. Simple, right? The more sudden the impact, the more \u2018crash energy\u2019 you\u2019ll suddenly have to deal with. What crumple zones do is absorb some of that energy by delaying the collision, increasing the time it takes for your car to come to a complete halt and thereby softening the blow. OK, it still might not feel that soft, but trust us when we say it could be worse!<\/p>\n
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Image Credit: ABC News<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The idea for crumple zones didn\u2019t exist until the late 1950s, when Hungarian-Austrian engineer named B\u00e9la Bar\u00e9nyi came up with the idea. Even forty years later, by the 1990s the notion of crumple zones were still being treated somewhat laxly by many motoring manufacturers. Across the pond in America, several drivers died during NASCAR races due to rigid chasses \u2013 none of the force was being absorbed by the car, which meant instead drivers were taking the brunt of the potentially deadly impacts. We weren\u2019t much better over here in Europe either. It wasn\u2019t until 1994 that the Euro NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) was proposed; a body which would go on to provide consumers with information on how their vehicles would stand up to crashes. The results were pretty ugly. The cars were scrapped comprehensively, while their test dummy passengers were launched through of windscreens, crushed under A-frames and pulverised by metal components. Sales of the tested vehicles plummeted, and consumers demanded more stringent standards.<\/p>\n By quite a lot, you\u2019ll be happy to hear! Whereas in the past they were designed to withstand \u2018avoidance impacts\u2019 \u2013 that is, glancing ones when both drivers are trying to steer away \u2013 today all vehicles are submitted to much harsher testing before they\u2019re put on the market, as they\u2019re fired into a crash barrier at speeds of at least 40mph. (Not only does this serve valuable purposes in terms of safety, by the way, but the videos are really something to see.) Meanwhile, in NASCAR, similar measures are taken to increase the safety of their drivers; just one of which is that the frame rails of NASCAR cars are given a notch so that they bend predictably on impact. Having said that, even though crumple zones perform indispensable roles for vehicle safety, they do still have to be working in tandem with other safety features like seatbelts and airbags in order to be wholly effective.<\/p>\n At Scrap Car Network, we\u2019re proficient at a rather safer and less spontaneous form of car scrapping. Not just that, but we help out with environmental causes while we do it! You can read here about other reasons to choose us<\/a>, or just get started immediately by entering your postcode and car reg number onto our website<\/a>.<\/p>\nHow Have Things Improved Today?<\/h3>\n
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