Backseat Designers

By Henry Petroski

Safety came to automotive design under considerable pressure.

Engineering Motor Vechicles Transportation

This Article From Issue

May-June 2012

Volume 100, Number 3

Page 192

DOI: 10.1511/2012.96.192

View Issue

Death on the highway is neither a totally new nor a uniquely North American phenomenon. In emerging economies, like China and India, where there has been an increasing rate of expansion of roads and vehicles, highway accidents are common. In India, deaths rose 40 percent over the five-year period ending in 2008, when there were over 118,000 fatalities. One observer described conditions on the road to be chaotic at best:

In the 1950s and 1960s, car manufacturers argued that there was no consumer demand for safety features, and they instead concentrated on cosmetic design changes such as chrome trim and tailfins. Sharp and unyielding features, such as the noncollapsible steering column in a 1957 Buick Roadmaster (top left), could cause further injury or death to drivers after the initial impact with another car or obstacle. External pointed design elements, such as the tailfins of a 1960 Cadillac Coupe deVille (top right) or the grill and hood accents of a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air (bottom), exacerbated injuries to pedestrians who were struck by such cars. These and other flaws were pointed out in the 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed (inset).

To access the full article, please log in or subscribe.

American Scientist Comments and Discussion

To discuss our articles or comment on them, please share them and tag American Scientist on social media platforms. Here are links to our profiles on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

If we re-share your post, we will moderate comments/discussion following our comments policy.

American Scientist