High-tech crash test dummies used by General Motors today

In an effort to keep motorists safe, GM's crash testing lab utilizes the most sophisticated "anthropomorphic test devices," or crash test dummies, accessible. In the meantime, it is testing the next generation of dummies, intended to imitate human bodies in the most dangerous of circumstances. Are you in the market to sell or purchase a new or used SUV? If this portrays you, schedule a test drive at Gus Johnson Ford!


Expensive brand new system to crash



Highway fatalities have been decreasing a ton for many years. In fact, they were at their lowest point since 1949 last year. Unfortunately, there has been a 9 percent boost in traffic fatalities in the first half of 2012, according to the Traffic Safety Administration.



To be able to test safety in automobiles, test dummies, also known as anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs), have been used in cars. Cars in Spokane, New York and everywhere else are very secure due to the safety devices that have been installed. Safety has become very essential.



GM dummy tested



The Crash test lab for General Motors is run by Jack Jensen, who appeared on CBS This Morning with Mark Stassmann.



Jensen and his 12 workers spend their days building high-tech ATDs, crashing them and them putting them back together for more crashes. The lab uses about 170 dummies of several sizes and weights, worth a cool $20 million all together. They perform more than 350 frontal collision and more than 100 rollover crash tests each year. All told, the center conducts about 10,000 crash tests of various kinds annually.



According to Jensen, you might be really surprised at the high-tech quality of current ATDs. They have enough electronics in them to record up to 2 million data points per second with a ton of sensors, and their ribs are made of steel. The dummies do a fantastic job of showing how an individual would end up in an accident.



Next generation dummy





In the meantime, the next generation of ATD is being developed at Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden. The new dummies, called BioRID ATDs, are designed especially to test the impact of collisions on backseat passengers. These brand new dummies have spinal columns with 24 simulated vertebrae that allow them to sit up naturally and to bend the way a person does in a rear-end collision.



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Producing the dummies would be a huge waste of money if they did not actually replicate human injury as promised. That is why a lot of tests were put together by General Motors engineer Barbara Bunn to test the dummies.



GM’s Gay Kent was fascinated with Bunn’s efforts as the director of Vehicle Safety and Crashworthiness:



The test matrix Barb developed will be helpful to the industry for determining BioRID’s future, and demonstrates GM’s commitment to advancing crash-test dummy technology and procedures for evaluating vehicle safety.



Bunn was congratulated by the U.S. Council for Automotive Research in May.



First is safety in cars



Safety in automobiles is one of the most essential things, though the motorist is responsible for almost all safety efforts on the road. Technician Julie Kleinert explained that 3 out of 4 child car seats are not properly secured in automobiles, which is an enormous issue.



Sources



Mashable

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