Ford has introduced new technologies into its new Ford Everest SUV to prevent fatal crashes.
WHO encourages countries to strengthen their road safety legislations to reduce road traffic crashes, injuries and deaths – especially laws relating to the five key risk factors for road safety: speeding, drunk driving, the use of motorcycle helmets, seat-belts and child restraints.
To prevent fatal crashes, Ford said, the new Ford Everest was engineered to help keep drivers confident and comfortable on the road, with safety features designed to react faster than drivers ever could.
The new Ford Everest has comes with several functions that can be performed within 70 milliseconds, which is quicker than the approximately 100 milliseconds it takes a person to blink, to minimise danger from side collisions.
The functions are:
Sensing the Danger
Ford Motor claimed the Everest employs advanced intelligent sensors, which are designed to detect changes in air pressure inside the doors almost instantaneously in the event of a side collision. This, combined with accelerometers that are designed to measure rapid changes in speed, helps determine the severity of a crash, and decide whether the airbags should be deployed.
Ford Motor claimed that all of the processes take about only eight milliseconds.
Springing into Action
After sensing the danger, Ford Everest is designed to take approximately 25 milliseconds in a significant side impact, during which the vehicle’s advanced network of airbags inflate as required for the specific type of collision detected. Along with side airbags, the SUV is available with side curtain airbags designed to provide side protection for all three seating rows. Total time since impact: less than a third of the time it takes to blink, Ford Motor said.
Standing Steady
Ford Motor said the Ford Everest is built with high-strength materials to manage crash energy and help maximize occupant protection. The structure of the vehicle is designed to direct crash forces away from the driver and passengers, and absorb crash energy. In less than half the time it takes to blink the steel frame and the airbags are designed to have absorbed part of the impact – before the forces have even reached the occupants. At this point, the driver and passengers may still not even be aware that a collision has taken place.
The occupant zone is protected by the strong safety cell to help minimize injury, and, crucially, to help make exiting the vehicle after an accident easier.
Sensors, airbags, and structure: all of these safety functions can be performed within the window of 70 milliseconds, Ford Motor claimed.
Ford Motor said the new Everest is also equipped smart driver assist and crash avoidance technologies. These include Adaptive Cruise Control with Collision Warning, designed to help drivers maintain a set distance from vehicles in front; Curve Control, which can help drivers maintain control when approaching turns too quickly; and Lane Departure Warning and Lane Keeping Aid, technologies that can help drivers from drifting out of their lane. It also has a Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) with Cross Traffic Alert, which is designed to inform drivers when there is a vehicle in their blind spot while driving, or when they are preparing to reverse out of a parking spot. While driver assist and crash avoidance technologies do not replace the driver’s attention, judgment, and need to control the vehicle, and have limitations, they may be especially helpful in unexpected situations.
Ford Motor said highly skilled crash experts in Ford’s Asia Pacific safety team used advanced computer-aided engineering, or CAE, to develop the body structure and restraints system. The team designed the SUV’s basic safety architecture and ran thousands of detailed CAE simulations to optimize its design for all occupants. The simulations were then confirmed through an extensive real-world crash test program.
[Source:- The Nation]
