These Car Manufacturing Innovations Are Going To Make Roads Much Safer In The Coming Years
Road travel is one of the most dangerous modes of travel available to us. Naturally, automotive tech innovators have been hard at work to catch up to the ever-changing challenges of car safety since the 20th century. Now, it would seem that they are very close to doing so.
The automotive safety market is currently valued at around $10 billion, but is expected to grow to over $24 billion in the next 5 years, according to Research and Markets. With the promising innovations available to us today, we’ll likely be able to traverse even the most dangerous roads with relative ease in the next few years.
Next generation airbags
The airbag is among the oldest car safety technologies, but decades of use have exposed several flaws in its basic design. Scores of manufacturers have tried to improve on the template through the years, using concepts like multiple airbags to maximize cushioning, or rudimentary sensors from the dawn of the smart age. But recently, it would seem that Honda has come ahead of the competition with their Next-Generation Front Passenger Airbags.
These new airbags follow the multiple-airbag philosophy, albeit in a more subtle manner. Deployment inflates three chambers, with two acting as “wings” that flank the occupant and guide them into the center of the airbag, where they are most protected. This design has been praised for addressing the deadly rotational forces that still get inflicted upon a car’s occupants despite the deployment of traditional airbags. Other manufacturers, such as Mercedes-Benz, are exploring backseat airbag solutions. Mercedes-Benz is researching tubular airbags and inflatable seatbelts to minimize the whiplash backseat passengers can experience in a severe crash, keeping them safely in their seats.
New and improved construction materials
Metals previously considered to be rare, such as titanium and magnesium, have become relatively affordable throughout the years. Improvements in supply and machining have resulted in titanium products becoming better and more affordable through the 2000s and 2010s, according to www.tmstitanium.com.Thus, we see manufacturers shift from plain steel to new alloys that incorporate rarer, stronger metals. Expensive materials such as carbon-fiber, advanced plastics, and natural fibers like flax and hemp are being incorporated more and more into car structures as well.
The rare metals added to traditional steel make for what manufacturers call Advanced High Strength Steel or AHSS. By incorporating titanium, improved alloys will allow for the creation of more rigid structures and stronger paneling. This makes the car much less likely to contort or dent in dangerous, possibly lethal ways. Materials such as carbon fiber and advanced plastics serve as lightweight yet competent replacements to parts of the structure that used to be considerably weaker. This includes things such as door hinges and other areas where components join together.
State of the art driver assistance systems
Driver assistance tech has been in development since the 90s, but only recently has the dream of advanced driver assistance systems or ADAS been realized. With the advanced sensors and AI we have today, we now have everything at our disposal to make crashes a rare occurrence, if not rendered a thing of the past entirely.
Modern components of ADAS include cruise control that is conscious of the cars ahead and behind you and automatic systems that keep cars within lanes. Perhaps most important of these are Automatic Emergency Braking systems, which immediately engage the brakes at full power once the sensors determine that a collision is about to take place.
Now that the automotive market as a whole is regaining traction, we can expect these technologies to fully mature within the next few years. Very soon, they will probably make their way to the middle or even lower price ranges, ensuring a safe driving experience for all.