G.M. HIGH SPEED CAR CRASH AIR BAG TEST w/ CRASH TEST DUMMIES 86494
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 4 янв 2017
- Dating to the 1970s, this silent film shows a crash test performed by General Motors during early tests of air bags. This particular test is for a front impact at an angle, and various views show the collision and resultant deployment. In the 1970s, General Motors marketed its first airbag modules under the unwieldy name "Air Cushion Restraint System (ACRS)".
G.M.'s history with airbags dates back to the 1972 model year, when the Chevrolet Division built 1,000 1973 Chevrolet Caprice and Impala models equipped with them. They were provided to fleet customers under an agreement for testing purposes. In 1973 unfortunately, the first air bag fatality occurred when an unrestrained infant riding in the front passenger seat was killed after the passenger-side air bag deployed in a crash.
In 1974 the Oldsmobile Toronado became the first production car built with the Air Cushion Restraint System (ACRS) option that was intended for retail sale. It was followed by the Buick Electra 225 Limited. GM began building Cadillacs, Buicks, and Oldsmobiles with ACRS, and stated that they expect to sell 100,000 a year. But sales were disappointingly small -- only 10K units -- and after just three years of marketing, the option was dropped. G.M. would not offer them again for over a decade.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference."
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com
Looks like a 1977 or so Delta 88. Too bad cars didn't have air bags sooner. Great video.
It's fun to note that GM's ACRS option deleted front shoulder belts
No shoulder belt would have freaked me out. When I started driving Iin 1970 at age 16, I was probably the only kid that wore both the lap and shoulder belts. Even for a teenager it was a no brainer.
Cool
It seems that the point of this test was to test the airbags, especially the passenger side one, in a "worst-case" scenario. The front passenger was in the middle seat, and the impact was at a left angle at a high speed crash test for the time (probably about 30 mph). Of course, both occupants were unbelted, a very realistic scenario for 1974, when these airbags came out. Seat belt use rate was about 10% then.
The driver doesn't hit anything hard, and the passenger does hit the windshield after being substantially restrained by the airbag. Had that dummy been in the passenger seat directly behind the airbag, he probably would have not hit anything hard.
These airbags are over-aggressive and massively oversized by today's standards; the passenger airbag actually hits the seat! The bags put a lot of pressure on the front occupants, that's why they were able to keep them away from hard surfaces. But a large, aggressive airbag can cause injuries of its own.
Believe it or not, this airbag system was less dangerous to children than many "first-generation" (pre-1998) airbag systems, because it had "dual stage" deployment (less inflation for slower crashes, more inflation for faster crashes), a feature that didn't re-appear until about 1999 at the earliest.
The trade-off was worth it in the 1970s, when seat belt use was very low and protecting the unbelted could have helped out a great deal. The airbag system itself was perfect for 1970s standards. The only problem was that it was marketed as a replacement for seat belts, so the shoulder belt was deleted. Keeping it in would have been of benefit to the 10% of occupants who buckled up then, as well as the higher percentages who buckled up in later years. Get yourself an ACRS-equipped car, put 3-point belts in it, and you'll have the safest pre-1990s car (excepting some airbag-equipped 1980s German luxury cars)
Today, seat belt use rates are around 90%, and it's not worth it to have such large, aggressive airbags. Smaller airbags actually provide more protection for people wearing seat belts. Using my 2011 Honda Accord as an example for modern airbags, my driver airbag is only about 10 inches thick and 20 inches wide (this one is probably 16 inches thick and 25 inches wide). Some of the larger driver airbags today are around that size, so it's not ludicrously large.
The passenger airbag is the big one though. This passenger airbag extends all the way from the steering wheel to the right door, covering the midsection of the dashboard. It also extends all the way back to the passenger seat surface. In effect, it occupies the whole volume of the passenger's space. My Accord's passenger airbag only covers the right side of the dashboard (leaving the center section with the radio, A/C, and navigation controls uncovered), and wouldn't even hit the (unoccupied) seat if it were all the way forward. You could probably fit four fully inflated 2011 Accord passenger airbags inside one ACRS passenger airbag.
That's because this particular passenger airbag came out in 2007 (on the '08 Accord), when seat belt use was over 80%, so it was designed to protect the belted (as are all 1980s and newer airbags). As for the unbelted, to hell with them. ACRS still benefits the belted, but in 1974 it was worth it to sacrifice a little bit of that benefit to benefit the unbelted. Today, I want to have an airbag that will not injure me or a passenger, because that can be accomplished. I have not forgotten to wear my seat belt once since October 2004. I was just 11 years old then.
This comment is getting to be bigger than the ACRS passenger airbag, lol. Took me 30 minutes to write.
January 23, 2017 1:37 am
Good comments, had not noticed the passenger in the middle seat -- very interesting that they did that.
Imagine a kid sit down in the front passenger seat of that airbag that airbag will crushed that kid to death.
You can see the note on the car door "ACRS-25". ACRS is what GM called the first airbag system. It's possible this was the 25th car so equipped?
@@compu85 I don't think this was the 25th car so equipped, this particular car looks like a 1977 or later Oldsmobile, and the ACRS system was available commercially from 1974-1976 where they made 10,000 of them or so. This seems like it might be a test on a second-generation or modified ACRS system that never commercially launched.
After the 1976 model year, GM went about 11 years before offering an airbag again on the 1988 Oldsmobile Delta 88. This time it was just a driver airbag, and the system was called "SIR" (Supplemental Inflatable Restraint).
June 17, 2020 7:28 pm
whattheheck1000 good point! It baffles me how many times GM had the tech lead on something, then just gave up.
You even see that the good Body on Frame design of the mid & fullsize cars was a lot better than present or younger cars with unibody design. Body on Frame design is so much stronger even at the passenger cell. Also the whole design of the 60s & especially the 70s US cars is a lot better in all, also the safety. This US cars was so strong & about wearnes they was much better than present cars. Even the V8 is the best engine in whole concept. You can see that only some modern things for safety Like Airbags or "DSC" could make the safest cars ever made when you'll combinate it with an 70s US "classic" car Design.
The Police could Tell you about how much better the US fullsize cars of the 70s or also 80/90s was in all, also in stability and safety. When you look at a crown vic, what is using Body on Frame design you can see how much better they are than the younger present cars with unibody and thin sheet metal. I think the designers have to use Body on Frame design for new mid and fullsize Cars, also the V8 and even the RWD. At MOPAR/Dodge you can see that they've done it right about the unibody. But only because they're using the good V8, RWD and a very good whole design for the Charger and Challenger. But at Ford is No longer a good mid or fullsize car. Also by GM. Because they've lost the look for theyr good things about Body on Frame design, RWD and V8... If Ford and GM using this again for new MID and fullsize Sedans they will take the right, good way for the future.....
Crown Vic's are good in head on crashes, but I wouldn't want to be T-boned in one
If modern trucks are still body on frame,I wonder how they protect vs cars. Meanwhile I think that back then, the roof of cars are much weaker than today's cars, but maybe that's because they didn't care back then vs it being body on frame.
Airbags on the newer car should be like this,because its larger so it will safer if in high speed crash