Pedestrian Safety Dummy
The Dream: Protect Pedestrians as Well as Passengers
It's natural for an automotive company to think of safety in terms of protecting the occupants inside the vehicles they manufacture. But at Honda we feel a deep responsibility to think beyond the products we make to how they may affect society as a whole. So when it comes to safety, we consider the people outside our vehicles as well as those inside.
Safety in Numbers
In 1996 our chief safety engineer Tomiji Sugimoto was concerned when he reviewed the high number of fatalities among pedestrians in the crowded streets of Japan. The numbers in the U.S. were lower than in his country, but troubling nonetheless.
When a pedestrian is struck by an oncoming car, the legs are usually pushed out from under the body, and the person is then thrown up onto the hood before landing on the street. Modern aerodynamic car designs increase efficiency but may make this impact more harmful to pedestrians.
Until the late nineties, the only thing automakers had done to mitigate the risks to pedestrians was to eliminate sharp hood ornaments and decorations. U.S. and other consumers were eager for more meaningful solutions.
Safety for Dummies
Safety dummies were already widely used in automotive crash tests. However, they were designed to measure the effects of an accident within the cabin of the car.
We took the lead by creating the industry's first pedestrian safety dummy in 1998. Polar II, as the dummy was called, was designed with artificial joints and ligaments, and outfitted with sensors to measure the impact to the head, chest, legs and abdomen. To make the dummy as realistic as possible, Mr. Sugimoto also studied the strength and flexibility of human bone, muscle and ligament and used these findings in his design.
Today's Dream: Safety without Compromise
In an effort to bolster safety for all pedestrians, Honda has shared the Polar II with other automakers so that they may benefit from its safety information.
Now automakers are focusing on minimizing the impact to the body when a pedestrian is struck by an automobile, while also taking steps to prevent the accident in the first place.
Data from crashes with this miraculous dummy has been used to reevaluate the shape of automobiles to make them more pedestrian friendly. We have already made some design changes based on this new information. The hood has been raised on some vehicles--including the Civic and Accord Sedan--allowing the car to absorb more of the impact. We have also adjusted bumper design in some vehicles to make this area easier on the legs of pedestrians.
More research needs to be done in order to minimize harm to pedestrians without compromising sleek, aerodynamic auto designs. But we viewed this dream of pedestrian safety as one that was--and is--essential to the betterment of our society. So we will continue to build upon the success of the Polar II, and to approach every problem with the attitude that if a solution exists, we will seek it out and find creative solutions to make it a reality.