According to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 30% of the 56 thousand traffic accidents that occurred in North America between 2000 and 2012 were multiple collisions. This means that after the first accident, the car continued to collide with trees, power poles, and even other vehicles.
Hyundai said: With current airbag systems, in the case of the first collision and the main airbag does not deploy (due to insufficient impact force or some other reason), the vehicle occupant cannot protection when further incidents occur. New technology from the Korean automaker can activate secondary airbags if there is another collision.
Hyundai’s system is designed with the ability to detect “abnormal” positions of the driver and passengers after the first collision. It will use the data to calculate the appropriate force to deploy the second airbag.
Mr. Taesoo Chi – Director of Hyundai’s chassis technology center – shared: The Korean automaker’s goal is to continue researching diverse collision situations. This is also part of our commitment to providing cars with higher safety on the market.
In the future, Hyundai and Kia cars will be integrated with new airbag technology to improve driver protection and minimize injuries in multiple accidents. However, the company has not given a specific timeline.
This is not the first airbag technology developed by Hyundai. In early 2018, the manufacturer also launched an airbag system on the sunroof to ensure passenger safety in case of a vehicle rollover.
Hyundai revealed: The airbag is installed inside the sunroof, deploying in front and rear directions similar to the mechanism of curtain airbags. If the vehicle is at risk of overturning, the sensor will detect and the airbag inflator will operate.
The system promises to contribute to preventing serious injuries to the head and neck of passengers when a rollover accident occurs. Not only that, the possibility of people ejecting through the sunroof is also lower.
