The Safety Factor in Automotive Design

The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, now under development by Congress, provides for the establishment of motor vehicle safety standards. In anticipation of the development of new standards, engineers in the SAE and in industry are planning ahead, collecting additional safety test information and analyzing designs and data. Computers are playing an increasingly important role in this work. The results of such work will assist the safety engineer in determining the true value of proposed safety standards and whether the proposed changes in vehicle design will actually result in an improvement in safety for the passenger.