Evening star., 1960-01-12
Auto Makers
Strive 10 Add
BuiIt-in Safety

DETROIT (AP) The auto
makers position on traffic safety
was stated very simply by one
executive when he said: I'VE
want very much to keep our
customers alive and driving"
Depite the fact that every
body is in favor of it, safety
remains one of he most highly
controversial aspects of the
automobile business.
How safe are today's cars?
Are designers and engineers
doing everything possible to
make them safer? What can
the manufacturers do about
the rising toll of death and
injury on the Nations streets
and highways?
These are questions to which
there are no simple answers.
On every side the industry
processes extreme concern
about safety. Charles A.
Chayne. vice president of Gen
eral Motors in charge of engi-
neering staff, recently wrote:
The first objective of an auto
mobile manufacturer might be
said to be to build a car that
will move. His second objec-
tive is to build one that will
move safely. All other objec-
tives are subordinate"
No Cars "Driverproof'
Mr.. Chayne put the general !
industry viewpoint this way: /
The driver is, of course. by
FAR the most critical element
in the whole picture. No mat
ter how easy we may make it
for him TO drive safely. we
cannot make cars 'driverproof'
any more than highway engi-
neerS can achieve this theo-
retical objective in the roads
they build.
Traffic accident records in
dicate clearly that driver er-
rors are responsible for the
Overwhelming majority of traf-
fic accidents. Even in the small
percentage of cases where We
hicle malfunctioning is in
volved, it is almost always
traceahle to the human error
OF improper maintenance"
The 1860 model cars carry
few if any completely new
safety devices. All of the COM
panieS say they are constantly
refining what they have. More
non-glare daShboards are Of
fered. Sealed beam headlights
have been improved. Visibility
has been increased.
Refining Designs
DR.. Andrew A. Kucher. Ford
vice president for engineering
and research, says "the de-
sign Of safety features is
constantly being refined as
accident experience more ac-
curately pin-points how in
juries are inflicted.
considerable freedom must
be extended to research and
design to allow exploration of
new solutions to the problem.
The danger of formulating
rigid specifications and design
criteria while potential i'm
proVements are still being
evolved is a substantial one"
In this Mr.. Kucher referred
to attempts to pass Federal
legislation requiring certain
safety standards on autos.
Most significant of the re-
cent safety advances has been
the use in cars of seat belts,
deep dish steering wheels.
safety door locks and padded
daShboardS.
Four Steps Required
On many cars some or all of
these are optional equipment
and the public has made no
great effort to buy them. But
the safety locks and steering
wheel design are almost uni
versal on American cars.
Mr.. Kucher suggests that any
spectacular progress in acci-
dent prevention will require at
least four evolutionary steps:
l. Extension of human senses
by devices that "see" and COM
pute more quickly and accu-
rately than the human driver.
2. Relieving the driver of
simple tasks, such as braking.
3. Extension of automatic
control to assure safe spacing
between vehicles in traffic
4. Development of fully auto
matte operating controls for
vehicles, similar to the auto
matte pilots used in aircraft.
These factors are being
tested by all of the auto man
ufacturerS. Eventually they
Will come, although not this
year or next.