VEHICLE SAFETY RESEARCH AND THE "TOTAL" VEHICLE

The vehicle safety research of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is leading to total vehicle concepts that will have a balance of safety, economy, energy conservation, and environmental protection. In 1968, the Experimental Safety Vehicle Program initiated the development of the total vehicle system in which all aspects of safety including crash avoidance and crashworthiness were considered. Four experimental safety vehicles were built in the United States, and nine were constructed in other countries. The next step is the Research Safety Vehicle Program, which has as its goal a vehicle that weighs less than 1361 kg (3000 lb), that reduces the societal cost of automobile accidents in the 1985 time period, and that attains national goals in energy conservation, environmental protection, and life-cycle economy. The first phase of this program defined the role and projected operating environment for passenger vehicles of the mid-1980s and developed performance specifications of a vehicle concept based on societal benefit studies. Fuel costs and kilometers driven are expected to increase, but the percentage of family budget for automobiles will not. This will result in the demand for a smaller, more efficient automobile, which will lead to a dramatic increase in the societal cost of small-automobile accidents. The preliminary designs of the research safety vehicles by the five contractors were based on those types of considerations. Features of the designs include low weight, optimized structure and restraints, and compatibility with vehicles of other sizes.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr169/sr169-005.pdf
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  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0360859X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Publication of these proceedings is sponsored by the Federal Energy Administration and the Transportation Systems Center, DOT.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

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• Authors:
  • Esposito, Vincent J
• Conference:
  • Workshop on Strategies for Reducing Gasoline Consumption Through Improved Motor Vehicle Efficiency
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1975-10-7 to 1975-10-8
• Publication Date: 1976

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 23-30
• Monograph Title: STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING GASOLINE CONSUMPTION THROUGH IMPROVED MOTOR VEHICLE EFFICIENCY
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 169
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0360-859X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Costs; Crashes; Crashworthiness; Fuel consumption; Gross vehicle weight; Safety vehicles; Vehicle design; Vehicle safety
• Uncontrolled Terms: Accident costs
• Old TRIS Terms: Vehicular safety
• Subject Areas: Design; Energy; Finance; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00142975
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Dec 22 1976 12:00AM