Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
What is Crashworthiness? - Attorney Todd Tracy (The Tracy Firm)
Crashworthiness is the science of preventing or minimizing injury and deaths following an accident through the use of safety systems (Todd Tracy).
Major Crashworthiness Elements are,
Crush - Maintain Survival Space
Restraint - Provide Proper Restraint
Ejection - Prevent Ejection
Energy - Channel/distribute energy
Prevent post-crash fires
Maintain Survival Space
Just a few years later the manufacturers began to incorporate new designs which addressed the problem literally. The video below demonstrates one of those designs as well as the testing of the new designs.
In the decades since that time manufacturers relaxed their own internal standards, probably for profits. and by the 1960’s accident fatalities were skyrocketing. Public outrage and the onset of product liability lawsuits encouraged the government to adopt minimum safety standards to which the manufacturers would be accountable.
The following video demonstrates post Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), vehicles that perform no better in many regards as the vehicles produced in the 1930’s. This includes exhibits from a recent trial in which Todd Tracy won a jury award for his client whose legs were crushed by front tire footwell intrusion. This verdict was appealed by the manufacturer and upheld in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Some vehicle manufacturers have led the charge for safer vehicles. In this video demonstration you will see how an early 1980’s vintage Volvo performs in a very unusual test.
This is another amazing design from Mercedes Benz’s Smart Car. Who would think that a vehicle with 26 inches of frontal structure could survive impacts such as these without compromising the occupant compartment.
In short, in the United States and most of the rest of the world, most collisions that we drivers have involve the front portions of our vehicle. That really makes front structure and the way that a vehicle handles energy in a collision paramount.
We see injuries from steering wheel intrusion, occupants hitting A-pillars when the A-pillars are crushed far into the occupant space. As demonstrated in a previous slide, foot-well intrusion is a very common concern.
If you have been in a collision where you suspect that your vehicle’s front structure did not perform in a way that left you seriously injured, please call us and let us talk to you about it. Call us at 214 324-9000 today, or, visit our company website for more information.
Remember to Always wear you Seatbelt!
- Attorney Todd Tracy (The Tracy Firm - Attorneys at Law), as of Texas Trial Lawyers Association, TTLA Seminar March 29, 2012.
Major Crashworthiness Elements are,
Crush - Maintain Survival Space
Restraint - Provide Proper Restraint
Ejection - Prevent Ejection
Energy - Channel/distribute energy
Prevent post-crash fires
Front structure weakness was identified as dangerous back in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Deaths per capita, of vehicle owners, were very high. The video below demonstrates vehicle weaknesses in the frontal structures compromising the passenger compartment or occupant survival space.
Maintain Survival Space
Just a few years later the manufacturers began to incorporate new designs which addressed the problem literally. The video below demonstrates one of those designs as well as the testing of the new designs.
In the decades since that time manufacturers relaxed their own internal standards, probably for profits. and by the 1960’s accident fatalities were skyrocketing. Public outrage and the onset of product liability lawsuits encouraged the government to adopt minimum safety standards to which the manufacturers would be accountable.
The following video demonstrates post Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), vehicles that perform no better in many regards as the vehicles produced in the 1930’s. This includes exhibits from a recent trial in which Todd Tracy won a jury award for his client whose legs were crushed by front tire footwell intrusion. This verdict was appealed by the manufacturer and upheld in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Some vehicle manufacturers have led the charge for safer vehicles. In this video demonstration you will see how an early 1980’s vintage Volvo performs in a very unusual test.
This is another amazing design from Mercedes Benz’s Smart Car. Who would think that a vehicle with 26 inches of frontal structure could survive impacts such as these without compromising the occupant compartment.
In short, in the United States and most of the rest of the world, most collisions that we drivers have involve the front portions of our vehicle. That really makes front structure and the way that a vehicle handles energy in a collision paramount.
We see injuries from steering wheel intrusion, occupants hitting A-pillars when the A-pillars are crushed far into the occupant space. As demonstrated in a previous slide, foot-well intrusion is a very common concern.
If you have been in a collision where you suspect that your vehicle’s front structure did not perform in a way that left you seriously injured, please call us and let us talk to you about it. Call us at 214 324-9000 today, or, visit our company website for more information.
Remember to Always wear you Seatbelt!
- Attorney Todd Tracy (The Tracy Firm - Attorneys at Law), as of Texas Trial Lawyers Association, TTLA Seminar March 29, 2012.
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