I could not have generated the information, collected the photographs, or completed the project without the assistance and aid of others. I want to thank all of those who contributed to the successful completion of this book. My first debt is, of course, to my three amazing children who encouraged me to discover my writing purpose and pursue it with intense passion and perseverance. I am grateful that they understood the world must know this story. I am deeply grateful to my friend Mohsin Ali, former diplomatic editor for Reuters, who helped tremendously by serving as a guest lecturer to my college classes while I attended the many meetings. The hundreds of college students who participated in the research and surveys helped to get this book written. Unfortunately, some of these students perished in motor vehicle crashes. Many others were involved in crashes that caused them pain and injury. It was common to hear tragic stories on a daily basis. I constantly thank my college students and remind them that their involvement was important. What is written is never forgotten. I tell them that we learn more from our mistakes than from our successes. Hopefully, in this second century of motor vehicle travel, these students can experience the freedom to travel safely. I received much support and advice, and sometimes the best advice came from the naysayers who told me I was wasting my time. Fortunately, I turned all their negatives into positives. Many individuals are mentioned within, but this book is solely my project and all of the opinions expressed here (except for the direct quotations) are my own. I do not speak or write for the automakers, government safety establishment, standards development organizations, or advocates—but I do include their own works in my book and also what others have commented about them. I do not bash any group for all are important and I am very careful to be factual. I express my grateful appreciation to those who gave permission to use news articles and extended quotations such as the National Academies of Sciences / Transportation Research Board (TRB), the New York Times, Automotive News and EE Times, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank. Robert Kern, my literary agent in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Cathy Faduska, my senior editor at IEEE Press / John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and Kay Ethier of Bright Path Solutions, Durham, North Carolina, helped craft the initial structure of my manuscript and greatly improved the book. The entire point of an editor is to decide what is and what is not fit to print, and any book will have some selection criteria. Those criteria and the editor's judgment are its bias. The best that any author can do is make it as clear as possible why everything should be included so as to avoid "unbiased" reporting where no one can be portrayed as being wrong or opposing safety. No courage is required to publish a sanitized, non-critical version of events. To do otherwise requires a higher standard. Vehicle and highway safety cannot be accomplished through the efforts of one person, a group, or a government agency. It is a shared responsibility among people who travel, the companies that provide transport, and the agencies that regulate travel. But, one person can make a difference toward the goal of safe travel. Someday, when we are "actually all safer" while traveling in crash-proof vehicles on intelligent highways, I want to tell my children's children that I knew about this problem and did my best to erase it when I could. I will tell them in life we have two choices, try or do nothing. To me it was impossible to witness the terrible pain and suffering and not get involved. Road safety is no accident. Silence is the ultimate weapon of power in vehicle and highway safety. This book will break that silence. |
One of the great pleasures of finishing a book is that it gives the author the opportunity to thank those who helped make the project a product.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Fatal Exit - Glossary of Terms
Active Safety: Designing a vehicle that will help the driver avoid crashes is known as "active safety." Air bags: Safety devices installed in vehicles that inflate to protect the driver or passengers in case of a collision. Alcohol interlock device: An electronic breath testing device connected to the ignition of a vehicle. The driver has to breathe into the device. If the driver's breath alcohol level is above a set limit, the vehicle will not start. Anti-burst door latch: Door latch in a motor vehicle that is designed not to open under certain conditions in crashes, so preventing vehicle occupants from being ejected. Automatic enforcement: The enforcement of road traffic rules by means of equipment that records offences without requiring the presence of police officers at the scene, such as speed cameras or radar detectors. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC): The amount of alcohol present in the bloodstream, usually denoted in grams per decilitre (g/dl). A legal BAC limit refers to the maximum amount of alcohol allowed in the bloodstream that is legally acceptable for a driver on the road. In some countries, the law stipulates an equivalent quantity of alcohol in the air breathed out, in order to facilitate detection of drink-driving. Breakaway columns: Lighting or telegraph poles, designed to break or collapse on impact. Breathalyzer: An instrument that measures the relative quantity of alcohol in the air a person breathes out. Capture: The process of saving recorded data. Crash: An unusual or unstable event or an occurrence in a sequence of events that produces injury, death and/or damage to one or more vehicles involving a motor vehicle in transport. Crash Pulse: The acceleration-time history of the occupant compartment of a vehicle during a crash. This is represented typically in terms of g's of acceleration plotted against time in milliseconds (1/1000 second). The crash pulse determines the test's severity of the crash: an occupant will undergo greater forces if the crash pulse g's are higher at the peak, or if the duration of the crash pulse is shorter. Crash Severity: The most severe injury sustained in the crash as recorded on the police accident report (PAR) and consists of: Property Damage Only (no injuries), Minor or Moderate (Evident, but not incapacitating; complaint of injury; or injured, severity unknown), Severe or Fatal (killed or incapacitating). Change in velocity during a collision (Delta V): In crash reconstructions, the change in velocity occurring as a result of an impact - usually at the centre of gravity of the vehicle - is widely used as the measure of the severity of a collision. At substantial speeds, collisions between cars are almost totally inelastic so there is very little rebound. Thus if a car traveling at 100 km/h strikes a stationary car of the same mass, they will both undergo a change in velocity of 50 km/hr.6V is an important measure of the input severity or energy dosage, that relates to the outcome or injury severity. It is therefore a widely used variable in assessing the characteristics of crashes and the benefits of various countermeasures, such as the use of seat-belts and air bags, and changes in speed limits. Child restraints: Special seat restraint for children, designed according to age and weight, offering protection in the event of a car crash. Crash cushions: Energy-absorbing applications that can be attached to barrier terminals and other sharp-ended roadside objects to provide crash protection on impact. Crash-protective roadsides: Collapsible or breakaway roadside objects or energy-absorbing "cushions" on barriers and rails that reduce the severity of injury on contact. Crash-protective vehicles: Vehicles designed and equipped to afford interior and exterior protection to occupants inside the vehicle as well as to road users who may be hit in the event of a crash. Data Definition: A description of the format, structure, and properties of a data element. Data Dictionary: A collection of entries specifying the name, source, usage and format of each data element used in a motor vehicle system or set of systems. Data Element: A uniquely named and defined component of a data definition; a data "type" in which data items (actual values) can be placed. Dual-Stage Event: An event that is a sequence of two single-stage events within a period of time. |
