Not passive on safety

Modern automotive electronics are enabling many advances in post-crash protection of occupants.

The auto industry has been focusing a large part of its safety research on active techniques for avoiding accidents, but it has not neglected the passive responses to collisions. Improved airbag systems are being combined with occupant-detection concepts, while the sensors that detect accidents are also moving forward.

Passive safety techniques that occur after a collision have been around for years, and some contend that airbags and sensing systems are only undergoing slow, evolutionary changes. But federal regulations are forcing some changes, while other developments are responding to consumers who are now willing to pay for improved safety.