Often drivers ask, whether it is justified to buy a car with solutions that go beyond the standard equipment, and affecting safety and whether the small car is a safe vehicle? Due to the importance of the issue, we considered it right to answer these questions.
There is no car that is completely safe. What the producer can do, to develop a vehicle structure like this, in order to protect the people on the road as much as possible from the effects of possible collisions.
For the sake of security, the relevant UN agencies have developed a number of regulations, which determine the parameters of individual car assemblies. Meeting all the requirements ensures the necessary minimum of passive safety for vehicle users. Only cars meeting the conditions of the regulations are allowed to drive on public roads.
The basis for building safe cars is the proper construction of bodies, which must have different crush zones, absorbing the energy of the collision. Research shows, that the engine compartment to the front bulkhead is of the greatest importance in the protection of the occupants. Proper structure and stiffness of this part of the body in many cases protects against death of road accident participants. The constructor decides about the construction of the front crush zone. The car user can only select the vehicle brand, which in his consciousness fulfills this task best. However, even an optimally designed crumple zone is not able to absorb the entire impact energy. That is why seat belts are another protection of the passengers. Their task is to limit the movement of the trunk, caused by the inertia force released during a collision.
The safety requirements also apply to all chassis assemblies, brake system, suspension and steering.
Currently produced cars approved for traffic on public roads ensure the basic conditions of passive safety. In the latest vehicles, passive safety is supported by automation elements, which, by controlling the operation of the car's mechanisms, improve its driving, they eliminate the dangers resulting from various limitations of the human organism. Such devices are:
ABS – anti-lock braking system;
ASR – a system eliminating the skid of the drive wheels when starting off;
EBD – control system for the distribution of the braking force between the axles and the wheels;
EDC – system that stabilizes the transmission of drive torque to the wheels;
ESP – system stabilizing the movement of the vehicle.
Except for the ABS system, which is activated by the driver, all other systems operate independently of the driver's will, it turns itself on when a threat is detected by the appropriate sensors.
Despite the many solutions that improve security, the car is always subject to the laws of physics and driving speed has a decisive influence on its behavior in a critical situation. The driver is the weakest "link" – man, which is often illogical, panics, usually has low driving skills. However, no technical measures can replace it.
The first question is difficult to answer. It would be nice to have a car equipped with all the devices, which increase his active safety. Unfortunately, it costs. Besides, most popular cars, our clients are interested in, There are no such solutions, even for an additional fee.
The human being will always decide about driving safety. Just prudence, common sense and culture of all vehicle users can guarantee road safety.
Next question – whether a small car is a safe vehicle? For small cars, sometimes referred to as city cars, they include vehicles with a length below 4 m, most often in length 3,2-3,5 m. Statistics show, that over 50% of all events are head-on collisions, i.e. the car impact in a field of 30 ° from the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. Safe car, according to the applicable European standards, it is such, in which, on a frontal impact against a non-deformable obstacle at speed 50 km, the accelerations below act on the body of the driver and passenger 10 g.
Program Euro-NCAP (European New Car Assesment Programme) – The European New Car Assessment Program is a program for crash testing of new vehicles, carried out randomly for cars of the selected segment.
During Euro-NCAP crash tests, cars are assessed according to much stricter criteria than required by European standards, adopted by the governments of individual countries. The tested cars are subjected to frontal and side impacts, and also assessed in a test simulating a pass-by.
The car crashes at speed during the headline test 64 km / h in stationary, deformable obstacle, the impact occurs from the so-called. 40% shifting, responding 40% overall width of the car, which simulates a typical frontal road collision. The side test involves hitting the side of the car at the height of the driver's hip with a movable wheelchair weighing 1500 kg at speed 50 km/h. When hitting a pedestrian, the impact of the front seatbelt is determined, car bonnet and windshield on important parts of human body. The test is running, hitting a standing dummy with a car moving at speed 40 km/h. During the tests, the effectiveness of the protection of the driver and passenger against frontal and side impact as well as the overall effectiveness is assessed as a percentage. Ultimately, the car gets a grade in the pedestrian impact test.
Euro-NCAP anonymously purchases a car of a specific brand, then tests it together with other products of the segment. The results are made public. The first round of Euro-NCAP trials took place early 1997 r. In February 2000 In the year, the results of the small car test were published. The following vehicles were selected: Fiat Punto, Volkswagen Lupo, MCC Smart, Hyundai Atos, Opel Corsa, Honda logo, Lancia Y. As many as two of the seven tested cars received the highest rating – four stars. They were Fiat Punto and Volkswagen Lupo. Four cars received a good rating – three stars, and only one is sufficient – two stars, which guarantees satisfactory safety. Based on the above analyzes, it can be stated with all responsibility, that a small car is a safe vehicle. So let's not be afraid of small cars.