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Adrian PatonToyota: World's first rear window airbag
October 1st 2008 06:15
The airbag has evolved a lot over the years; from being exclusive to only the driver and then the front passenger, side airbags were later introduced to offer front and rear occupants protection against side-on collisions. More recently, curtain, head/thorax and even knee airbags have been introduced by car makers keen on making their cars as safe as possible.
Japanese car giant Toyota has announced a new rear window curtain shield airbag to protect rear passengers' heads in the event of a rear-end collision. Set to make its debut in the "iQ" ultra-compact four-seater, the innovative rear window curtain shield airbag deploys from the roof lining above the rear window in a new variation of the curtain airbag. ACting as a supplementary restraint system (SRS) for the headrests, the airbag is designed to minimise the impact to the head during rear-end collisions.
Now that Toyota has become the pioneer for rear window airbags, expect other manufacturers to follow suit with their own versions of this SRS. One that comes to mind is Mercedes-Benz and their Smart ForTwo - a car so compact that the back of your head is just inches from the rear window.
The Official Toyota Press Release:
TOYOTA DEVELOPS WORLD'S FIRST REAR WINDOW CURTAIN SHIELD AIRBAG
Toyota announced today that it has developed the world's first* SRS (Supplemental Restraint System) rear window curtain shield airbag to protect rear passengers' heads in the event of a rear-end collision.
The innovative airbag deploys from the roof lining above the rear window in the form of a curtain-like barrier. Together with the headrests, the airbag minimises impact to the head from a colliding vehicle or parts of the hit vehicle, thus helping to reduce the severity of injuries. Its use in the soon-to-be launched "iQ" ultra-compact four-seater is expected to approximately double the car's rear passenger head protection performance.
Toyota has continued to actively develop and make available its collision safety technologies – resulting in such achievements as the swift market introduction of SRS curtain shield and knee airbags – to enable its vehicles to better respond to a greater range of accidents.
As a part of its efforts to realise sustainable mobility, Toyota intends to strengthen its traffic safety initiatives in the future through: 1) the development of even safer vehicles and technologies; 2) participation in the creation of a safe traffic environment and 3) activities designed to educate people on traffic safety, thereby contributing to the complete elimination of traffic casualties, which can be viewed as the ultimate hope of a society that values mobility.
[Source: Toyota]
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