Current vehicle secondary safety systems are designed to maximise protection for a specific section of the population. Hence certain car occupants, particularly those who sit in an unusual position or-are not of ‘average’ size, may be more likely to be injured in a car accident.

This paper reports the ongoing work of the project team working on Smart Seat design at Loughborough University and how their system gathers live data about the physical characteristics and position of the vehicle occupant(s). Data is used by the secondary safety system to tailor its response to an individual, reducing levels of injury by making the best possible use of available technology.