Safety to fore in design

Press, 4 August 1977, Page 4

Safety to fore in design

At the time when the Princess range was launched in Britain, Mr Charles Griffin w’as director of engineering at Leyland’s Austin Morris division. He had over-all responsibility for the engineering development of the Princess range, with particular responsibility for safety engineering. Here he answers some questions about developments in vehicle safety. Car manufacturers tend to emphasise their involvement in safety research, British Leyland as much as any. What are the direct benefits to be found in the new Princess as a result of this activity?

“In the summer of 1974, British Leyland unveiled five safety research vehicles at the International ESV Conference in London, attended by vehicle safety experts from all over the world. “Our cars attracted a tremendous amount of attention as an honest attempt to create safer

vehicles that were realistic and practical, both to manufacture and to own and drive.

“The general reaction was that these cars — particularly the well-styled Marine SRV2 four-door saloon — were years away in terms of applying the principles to everyday motoring, and at the time we had to keep rather tight-lipped about our future model programme. “But with tht launch of the new Princess range, British Leyland can justifiably claim that the Princess embodies many of those features so well received by the safety experts.”

What type of safety regulations are these new cars intended to meet?

“The range has been designed to meet all current safety regulations and all the new requirements we expect will come into force in Europe and many other countries by the 1980 s.” But surely, at one time

British Leyland made a lot of what it called “primary safety." Do such safety research features in these cars not make primary safety unnecessary?

“In their essence these cars are the second generation of our transverseengined front-wheel-drive cars. The first of the first generation was the Mini. The basic safety of these cars has long been acknowledged, for they embody the principle of ‘primary safety,’ . the capability to avoid accident situations by reason of above-average steering, road-holding and braking. “To that primary safety we have added a whole new range of characteristics aimed at improving ‘secondary safety.’ This concern includes the basic design of the car’s structure, the location of main components such as the engine and gearbox in relation to the occupants, the positioning of accessories, the type of door locks. The object is to minimise the consequences of an impact when at last it does happen.”

Can you give some examples of th* work you are describing? “The multiplying of safety legislation has led us in a new direction. The long sloping nose of the Princess is the immediate result of all this. The rate of crush under impact is carefully controlled and the comparatively greater distance between the

power unit, front wheels and the occupants is a direct safety feature.

"The car’s specification contains many details to enhance safety. There are split circuits for the braking systems, with dual circuits to the front disc*. This goes beyond the requirements of current regulations—giving equal performance on the separate systems. If one braking circit fails, then only one rear wheel loses its braking effort. The windscreen framing is carried down below the dashboard level to minimise the risk of laceration on edges left in the frame should an occupant be thrown into heavy screen-contact in an impact.”