Despite injuries, airbags save lives
Frontal airbags are standard equipment in cars and contrary to what some drivers think about their effectiveness, airbags greatly reduce injury and save lives.
5 Ways To Get Drivers To Stop Texting While Driving
Texting while driving can be viewed in much the same light as driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs and can make your passengers incredibly uncomfortable.
Airbags and Children: Here’s what you ‘auto’ know
An air bag can save your life. However, air bags and young children are a dangerous combination.
When used with seat belts, airbags work well to protect teenagers and adults; however, airbags can be very dangerous to children, particularly to those riding in rear-facing seats and to preschoolers and young school-aged children who are not properly restrained.
Front airbags are installed in all new cars.
If your vehicle has a front passenger airbag, infants in rear-facing seats must ride in the back seat. Even in a relatively low-speed crash, the airbag can inflate, strike the car seat, and cause serious brain injury and death.
Vehicles with no back seat or a back seat that is not made for passengers are not the best choice for traveling with small children; however, the airbag can be turned off in some of these vehicles if the front seat is needed for a child passenger. See your vehicle owner’s manual for more information.
Side airbags are available in most new cars.
Side airbags improve safety for adults in side-impact crashes. Read your vehicle owner’s manual for more information about the airbags in your vehicle. Read your car seat instructions and the vehicle owner’s manual for guidance on placing the seat next to a side airbag.
The following information will help keep you and your children safe:
- The safest place for all infants and children younger than 13 years to ride is in the back seat.
- All children should be properly secured in car seats, belt-positioning booster seats, or the seat belts correct for their size.
- All infants and toddlers should ride in a rear-facing car seat as long as possible or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer.
- All children who have outgrown the rear-facing weight or height limit for their car seat, should use a forward-facing car seat with a harness for as long as possible, up to the highest weight or height allowed by the car seat’s manufacturer.
- All children whose weight or height is above the forward-facing limit for their car seat should use a belt-positioning booster until the seat belts fit properly, typically when they have reached 1.5meters in height and are between 8 and 12 years of age.
Source: healtychildren.org (Copyright © 2021 American Academy of Pediatrics)
Are you sitting correctly in your car?
Safety technology in vehicles can be the difference between life and death. In the majority of instances, however, drivers and passengers need to use this technology in certain ways in order for it to work properly. In fact, if you do not do something as simple as sitting correctly, or wear a seatbelt correctly, it can cause damage to the occupant.
The managing director of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, says drivers and passengers who use seatbelts and sit properly, reduce mortality rates in crashes by up to 67%. “This proves the importance of using these safety features correctly. Many people, knowingly and unknowingly, sit in vehicles in ways that not only prevent the safety technology from working as it should but causes additional injuries.”
These are some of the most dangerous ways to sit in a vehicle:
- Feet on the dash: airbags deploy at up to 350km/h. If one deploys while your feet are on the dash, instead of protecting you it can break bones in your legs, hips, and/or back and even result in death.
- With a child or pet on your lap: you will rob the child of the safety of wearing a seatbelt and propel the child or animal out the front window at the speed that the vehicle was traveling at. If the airbag deploys, it will slam into the child or animal at up to 350km/h while they continue their forward projectory at the speed the car was moving.
- Sitting in the rear unrestrained: in a crash, unrestrained people, animals, and unsecured objects will slam into the front seats at the speed that the vehicle was moving. While this could result in only injuries to unrestrained passengers in the back, it could kill front passengers as they are squeezed between the force from the back and the seatbelt in the front. The passenger in the rear can slam into the front seat at the weight of an elephant in a car that is traveling at 60km/h.
- Not wearing a seatbelt correctly: a seatbelt should be worn with the bottom part across your hip bones and the section that crosses your body should rest on your collarbone. It should not be against your neck or be worn under the arm. Wearing a seatbelt correctly ensures the impact is absorbed by the strongest parts of your body and protects from internal injuries and broken ribs.
- Slouching: avoid sitting with your seat as far back and low as is possible with one arm straight out holding the steering. Your visibility is limited and you have reduced control while steering. Rather position your seat so that if you straighten your arms you can rest your wrists on top and still have a slight bend in your arm. Before you start, position your seat so that you can press all pedals completely to the floor. Ensure you hold the steering wheel with both hands.
Think carefully about your safety before you slide into your favorite position the next time you get in the car. “Avoid these too common ways of sitting to prevent life-changing injuries or death should you be in a car accident,” says Herbert.
Learning To Read The Stars: How car safety ratings work
One-star or five-star? What determines car safety ratings
Everyone knows that vehicle safety is a vital component of the vehicle manufacturing process and many people have heard of the Euro NCAP five-star safety rating system. However, not many consumers understand what safety ratings are, how they are determined nor how to make use of them when identifying a suitable vehicle to purchase.
Here’s what you need to know…
The frontal tests are performed at 64 km/h into a deformable barrier.
The Euro NCAP five-star safety rating system is designed to help consumers, their families and businesses compare vehicles more easily and to help them identify the safest choice for their needs. It is a voluntary vehicle safety rating system created by the Swedish Road Administration, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile and International Consumer Research & Testing, and backed by the European Commission, seven European governments, and motoring and consumer organisations in every EU country. Other areas with similar (but not identical) programmes include Australia and New Zealand with ANCAP, Latin America with Latin NCAP and China with C-NCAP.
The side impact tests are performed at 50 km/h.
They publish safety reports on new cars, and awards ‘star ratings’ based on the performance of the vehicles in a variety of crash tests, including front, side and pole impacts, and impacts with pedestrians. The top overall rating is five stars.
The safety rating is determined from a series of vehicle tests, designed and carried out by Euro NCAP. These tests represent, in a simplified way, important real-life accident scenarios that could result in injured or killed car occupants or other road users. While a safety rating can never fully capture the complexity of the real world, vehicle improvements (including technology developed over the past years), bring about high safety standards to the benefit to motorists all over the world.
The side impact pole test is performed at 32 km/h.
The frontal tests are performed at 64 km/h into a deformable barrier and is designed to represent an impact with a vehicle of similar mass and structure as the car itself. The side impact tests are performed at 50 km/h, and the side impact pole test is performed at 32 km/h. The pedestrian safety tests are performed at 40 km/h.
From 1 January 2009, the system adopted the rear-impact (whiplash) test as part of the new crash-test regimen. This new rating system focused on the overall score on pedestrian protection as Euro NCAP were concerned that car manufacturers were too fixed on occupant safety rather than the safety of those outside the vehicle.
The five-star safety rating system continuously evolves as older technology matures…
THE MORE STARS THE BETTER: The number of stars reflects how well the car performs in Euro NCAP tests, but it is also influenced by what safety equipment the vehicle manufacturer is offering in each market. So a high number of stars shows not only that the test result was good, but also that safety equipment on the tested model is readily available to all consumers in Europe.
The star rating goes beyond the legal requirements and not all new vehicles need to undergo Euro NCAP tests. A car that just meets the minimum legal demands would not be eligible for any stars. This also means that a car which is rated poorly is not necessarily unsafe, but it is not as safe as its competitors that were rated better.
The pedestrian safety tests are performed at 40 km/h.
LOOK OUT FOR THE LATEST RESULTS : The five-star safety rating system continuously evolves as older technology matures and new innovations become available. This means that tests are updated regularly, new tests are added to the system and star levels adjusted. For this reason the year of test is vital for a correct interpretation of the car result.
THE LATEST STAR RATING IS ALWAYS THE MOST RELEVANT: The latest star rating is always the most relevant and comparing results over different years is only valid if the updates to the rating scheme were small. Recently, the inclusion of emerging crash avoidance technology has significantly altered the meaning of the stars.
The following provides some general guidance as to what safety performance the stars refer to in today’s system:
5 STARS: Overall good performance in crash protection. Well equipped with robust crash avoidance technology.
4 STARS: Overall good performance in crash protection; additional crash avoidance technology may be present.
3 STARS: Average to good occupant protection but lacking crash avoidance technology.
2 STARS: Nominal crash protection but lacking crash avoidance technology.
1 STAR: Marginal crash protection.
It is important to note that testing is not mandatory, with vehicle models either being independently chosen by Euro NCAP or sponsored by the manufacturers. That said, it is in the best interest of car manufacturers to have their vehicles tested as car buyers are just as interested in safety as they are about performance.
FANTASTIC FATHERS’ FORUMS
ABOUT
The FANTASTIC FATHERS’ FORUMS aim to educate, inform and empower male drivers and motorcyclists on the nuances of motoring/biking and vehicle ownership. The Forums focus on similar topics as in the Gals Garage Workshops – finance, safety, vehicle maintenance and driver/rider training.
A key topic within the FANTASTIC FATHERS’ FORUMS is the safe travel of expectant women, babies and toddlers.
Using various manufacturers’ vehicles, the FANTASTIC FATHERS’ FORUMS showcase different vehicular features, technologies and services and how those fit the everyday lifestyle of the guests at the Forums.
The FANTASTIC FATHERS’ FORUMS are extremely popular as they provide a bonding platform for groups of men who attend either as family members or friends.
PAST EVENTS
The first ever FANTASTIC FATHERS’ FORUM was held in association with Subaru South Africa at Bass Lake Adventures. 20 men attended the forum and spent the day experiencing various Subaru vehicles on the challenging courses within the facility. Thereafter the Forums continued with Isuzu South Africa in association with celebrity Chef Benny Masekwameng and with Bona Magazine as our media partner.
Due to COVID-19 regulations the FANTASTIC FATHERS’ FORUMS are currently on hold until further notice but will resume as soon as government regulations permit.
