The Daimler-Benz development of a final production air bag system for the U.S.A

Scholz, Hans Juergen

Affiliations

¹Research and Development, Passenger Car Division Daimler-Benz AG, Sindelfingen, Germany

Abstract

After more than founeen years of research and development, Daimler-Benz has arrived at the point where we will place into production thw air bag system, one of the most debated and controversial technologies in the entire history of the automobile.

This passive occupant restraint system, which will he automatically triggered in an emergency, has to meet not only the most stringent technical requirements, but must also guarantee, especially in view of the present legal situation, the highest degree of reliability.

In this context it should be mentioned that the changes in U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 (FMVSS 208) have also increased the challenges in complying with this regulation. It definitely was no easy task for a vehicle manufacturer to interpret the future of this Standard correctly and make meaningful decisions accordingly.

Cited By (4)

Year	Entry
1983	Nygren Å. Injuries to car occupants: some aspects of the interior safety of cars: a study of a five-year material from an insurance company. Acta Oto-Laryngol. 1983;95(suppl 395):1-135.
1981	Biss DJ, Fitzpatrick MU. A systems approach to quantifying air bag-thoracic interaction. In: 24th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 1-3, 1981; San Francisco, CA.407-424.
1998	Bloch B. The coming revolution in airbag technology. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 31–June 4, 1998; Windsor, Ontario, Canada.1175-1189.
2005	Mellander H. Interior Frontal Crash Protection for Passenger Cars At High Delta-V: Possibilities and Limitations [PhD thesis]. Cranfield University; March 2005.