Red Light Return (1965)

[Music] Well, maybe it isn't quite, but with the power accessories and automatic features of the modern car to say nothing of our non-stop highways, some people don't pay nearly enough attention to the business of driving. Driving 4 miles an hour doesn't seem dangerous, but dangling 78 ft in midair does. [Music] Most people casual driverful drivers have little conception of the forces at work during an auto collision. If we were to cut the cable and let the car drop, it would develop about 40 mph terminal velocity. Let's try it and see what happens. [Music] [Applause] [Music] and don't worry, we got the driver out. Electric razor and all, but in most collisions, the people stay with it. How can cars and motoring be made safer for passengers? This is the work of the Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering of the University of California. These researchers have conducted some of the most thorough autoc crash studies ever made. One of the variables in the current series of experiments involves the testing of different types of safety glass. Cars traveling at 40 m an hour will impact stationary vehicles. [Music] The tests are designed to further the experts knowledge of many collision factors, but especially for us, they will help to show why passengers so often ride back to the hospital with Red light returns from crashes at speeds that may not seem excessive. [Music] In any autoc collision experiment, it is the motorist we are really concerned with. This includes you and your family. But you can't be crash tested. Your proxies or cyians are mannequins that can be torn, gouged, and broken like people. They are called anthropometric dummies. The traumaindicating child dummies are designed to simulate injuries or death. Some children will wear belts or harness. Some will not. The adult dummies will not use seat belts. At the conclusion of each crash, some of the findings will be checked on the spot. The bulk of the instrument recordings will require months for evaluation, but the answers we require about injuries and how to prevent them will be available at once. After weeks of preparation, the first experiment is ready to go. [Music] >> It looks like it's about - 5 minutes. >> This is minus 2 minutes. out of the up there and he base. >> This is minus 1 minute car down here. Soon as you wind up, I come on down. >> This is minus 30 seconds. >> Flash bulb installed. >> Okay. Run. Over 20 cameras operating at different speeds view the crash from various angles. [Music] During the course of the program of experiments, it becomes obvious that two types of injuries, often fatal even at city street speeds, can be avoided. The first involves passengers thrown from the car and dragged on the pavement. [Music] For emphasis as to what can happen, we will repeat the action. [Music] Even when such accidents are not fatal, the injury possibilities are obvious. [Music] And the really painful part, it can be prevented. [Music] After you have fastened your seat belt, lock your door and your passengers should lock theirs as well. This greatly increases its resistance to being forced open and can save your life or the lives of your family. With this simple extra precaution, you save yourself from hitting the street. Now, to save you from hitting your car with your face or head, you may think of yourself as being surrounded by metal. You're not. There is a 90% chance that in a collision you will impact glass. Here is what happens with conventional laminated windshield safety glass. At impacts of from about 15 mph and up, the glass will break out in a circular hole where your head strikes it. The edges of the hole flex. Your head goes on through the glass bubble retracts with a collaring effect that entraps your head. When the reaction hurls you back, the flexible perimeter of the hole becomes a jagged weapon of lethal intensity. The best way to avoid this is to stay alert every second as you drive. And remember, impacts at even relatively low speeds can be fatal. In experiment number 82, the striking car's windshield was made up of several different layers of safety glass and plastic. The test results were encouraging. On impact, the dummies did not penetrate the glass. Although the outside sheet cracked, the inside was so flexible it did not crack. [Music] There were no lacerations. [Music] As we have said, the terminal velocity experienced in a 40 mph crash is identical to dropping a car 78 ft. If you do become involved in a collision, perhaps through no fault of your own, the only thing that can prevent you from hitting the windshield is your safety belt. But even the best belt can't do any good if it isn't fastened or is not fastened properly. [Music] Pull up the belt snugly. Wear it across the hips. After a car is 2 years old, check all the belts. At least the driver's belt may need replacing. The university engineers will be evaluating instrument data for months, but there is one result that will be obvious to anyone right now. Car bodies hold up well in all but the worst crashes. Human bodies do not hold up well unless they are restrained by belts or harness. [Music] So already we know these experiments can begin having results right now. every hour of every day on every road, street, and highway in the country. Each time we eliminate just one more red light return. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat.