HPT

10.12Current Direction of Automakers:

For the most part, our current street vehicles incorporate none of these lifesaving features while continuing, however, to improve entertainment systems, style and power options. There is no substantial protection at head level in any car except for that afforded by flimsy door frames and airbags. A driver who runs, head-on, into an object 3 feet off the ground at 10 mph, such as the rear of a flat-bed truck, has little chance of surviving as the object easily pushes through the minimal windshield supports and into the passenger compartment at head level. Most cars will not sustain a 55 mph roll-over without substantial passenger compartment deformation. While Formula One race cars have developed the capability of reaching 4 g braking deceleration through the use of down force generators (wings and aerodynamic ground effects devices), today’s typical street vehicles may reach only 1 g during panic braking as the manufacturers have found it too expensive to incorporate meaningful aerodynamic devices into their vehicles. Furthermore, most street tires are formulated to achieve Forty Thousand (40,000), mile warranties rather than for traction and control.