Crash Safety Testing

Safety should always be a concern when you’re shopping around for a new vehicle, but do you know how the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducts safety tests? And what makes safety tests more reliable? Here’s a quick look at what goes into crash safety tests and how they’re improving right before our eyes.

Multiple Tests

These aren’t one-and-done tests, the NHTSA conducts two types of crash tests: one 35-mph frontal impact and test and one 35-mph side impact test. These tests are pretty self-explanatory, but what they’re measuring in each is different. Frontal impact tests judge the durability of the front part of the vehicle’s chassis along with the movement of the engine and how the crash dummy reacts. The side impact test analyzes the car’s reaction to being hit by another car by running a 3,015-pound sled into the test vehicle.

Advanced Crash Dummies

We all know about these guys, and if it weren’t for their constantly taking the hits for us, we wouldn’t have any reliable crash tests today. Built to react just like humans but strong enough to keep it together, crash test dummies are essentially large computers with sensors on almost every inch of their frames. These sensors read acceleration in particular directions, amounts of force experienced, and how much the body moves during the crash. Crash test researchers apply a wet paint to different areas of the crash dummies’ bodies so that they can see where parts of the body are likely to hit the car. As crash dummies improve throughout the years, we’re able to tune our tests more finely, which produces more and more reliable results.

Aiming for the Best Crash

Crash safety testing judges how the car fares in an accident and how well it keeps passengers safe. In order to receive high safety ratings, vehicle manufacturers design their cars to lessen kinetic energy smoothly so that the impact of a crash causes minimal to no injury. When moving at a certain speed, your body has a certain kinetic energy, and injuries are often caused by the reduction of kinetic energy to zero being too abrupt (this is how you get whiplash). Seatbelts and airbags are installed to help remove kinetic energy as smoothly and slowly as possible.

Hubler has great inventory of some of the safest vehicles out there, and if you’re looking for top-of-the-line safety, give us a call to find out what we’ve got in store for you.

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