Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-03-27

the first atomic bomb explosion
in New Mexico a group of men
are seeking to temper the
effects of another great
destructive force-the moving
American automobile.
These men have already coll
lected data on what the human
body can stand when sub
jected to terrific pressures of
pull and push. One Of the
men, while in search of this
data, has travelled faster on
the ground than any other
human.
In the past the group has
tried to measure the effect of
high speed flying on the
human body-particularly of
the forces in sudden stops and
starts.
But today a branch of the
Aeromedical Field Laboratory
at Holloman Air Force Base,
Alamogordo, N. Mex, is ex-
aiming the automobile in
somewhat the same light.
For the Air Force to be
concerned with objects which
will never reach into the wild
blue yonder seems odd. But
the fact is automobile acci-
dents constitute more of a loss
to the Air Force than do air
plane crashes.
For example. in 1854 there
were 1888 man days lost in
the Air Force from auto acct
dents and 1882 persons were
left with disabling injuries.
Airplane accidents are not even
figured on this basis, so slim
would the material be. Death,
on the other hand, Is the usual
result in airplane accidents.
Last year 797 deaths occurred
: in airplane accidents. But
automobile deaths were not far
behind-608 Air Force men and
women were killed in auto
accidents last year.
The chief aim, then, of the
Alamogordo investigation is to
reduce injuries and deaths re-
sulting from automobile acci-
dents. The research, which has
just started, is called a form OF
preventive medicine"
Public Could Profit
1t Is conceivable, those
handling the project say, that
a revolutionary change in the
design of modern automobiles
could take place if something
concrete is turned up.
Actually, according to Maj.
Joseph Michalski, the man who
will head the research, nothing
much is really known about
automobile accidents in terms
of the forces at play on the
human body at the instant of
impact.
Strange things happen in
automobile accidents. People
are flung from a car and their
shoes are found, side by side
and neatly tied, inside the car.
A case in point. one described
by Maj. Michalski. tells of an
18-year-old boy who lost in
love and decided to commit
suicide. He took his 1851 Ford,
got it up to 80 miles an hour
and ran smack into a wall of
cement. Ironically, he came
out with a few scratches
though the car was demolished.
The major cites this case as
an illustration of what they'll
want to find out. Was it the
81 Ford's steering wheel-it
since has been redesigned-
which equally displaced the
force of the impact over the
young mans chest so he was
only bruised, or did the wheel
crumple conveniently instead
of remaining rigid and driving
into his chest?
Automobile Doors
Another point to question
will be the danger in auto
mobile doors which spring open
during Followers. Maj. Michal-
ski says that % per cent of all
automobile injuries have been
traced to persons thrown
clear" of the accident. It's his
theory--one subject to in
vestigation-- that people are
probably safer if they are
lucky enough to stay inside
the car in Followers.
Following this, much of the
research will deal with safety
belts-something the boys in
the biostatistics lab know a
great deal about. For it was
Lieut.. Col. John j. Stapp, chief
Of the laboratory, who strapped
himself aboard a sled and was
rocket fired down a track at
'637 miles and hour last De-
cember. And when he stopped
in IA seconds from that speed,
1t was safety belts. placed at |
strategic positions over his
body. that prevented him from
continuing on out alone across
the New Mexico desert at q
velocity nine-tenths the speed
Of sound.
It took years Of research for
Col. Stapp to know what his
body could take. where to
place the straps. what to make
them out Of, how to attach
them. The men engaged in the