Citation

Friedman D, Tanner R. Transp. Res. Rec. 1976; 586: 23-31.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1976, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Design modifications were made and tested on 1974 Pintos so that the crashworthiness of the subcompact car could be improved. These modifications consisted of replacing the sheet metal with bulk structure, i.e., foam-filled (stabilized) sheet metal, and of altering the passenger compartment configuration. The effective safe barrier equivalent velocity of the modified vehicle in conjunction with an advanced airbag restraint was found to be approximately 50 mph (80 km/h) in head-on and angled- barrier crashes and in two-car angular and offset collisions. The result of this study has been to provisionally establish the prototype feasibility of meeting the proposed 1979 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 amendments requiring 45 to 50-mph (72 to 80-hm/h) barrier equivalent velocity frontal crash protection with a subcompact car.