Safety Systems

There are many Vehicle Safety systems, these are some of them:

Seat Belts:

These are very important in terms of vehicle safety. These will protect the occupants of the vehicle in an accident. To pass safety tests, these need:

- To be able to clip into the buckle and stay there: This is important because if there was a crash and the seat belt didn't stay in its buckle, the occupant would be in great danger.

- to retract when pulled out: This is important because if the occupant pulled the belt out and it didn't retract, the seat belt would be basically pointless.

- To have no tears or marks on the belt: This is important because if the belt had a tear in it, it would become much weaker than it should be.

On the Suzuki, basically all the belts were unacceptable. There was dirt on all the belts and the retractors didn't work on most of the belts.

Air Bags:

These are put in place to cushion as much impact as possible for the passengers in an accident.

This is the most important feature in the prevention of direct head impact.
If a car is fitted with airbags, there will be a light that comes on the dashboard for a few seconds after ignition.

Laminated Windscreens:

These are designed to stay in one piece in an impact. This is important because if there is an impact, glass doesn't shatter and go everywhere e.g. into peoples eyes.

Crumple zones:

These are places in the vehicle that are designed to absorb and dissipate the force of an impact. It also helps to divert the maximum amount of force away from the passengers. These are usually on the sides of the engine bay and the sills on the side of the car. If those zones are rusted or damaged they become useless.

On the Nissan bluebird the crumple zones were good e.g. no rust or damage to them.