Small Car Safety In The 1980s

The seven papers contained in this report describe various aspects of the small car safety problem and suggest some solutions. The small car safety problem is illustrated by the fatality projection chart on the report cover. This chart shows that large increases in deaths of subcompact car occupants may be expected if current trends continue. The first three papers in this report deal with trends in small car design, market penetration, and safety. The last four papers deal with solutions available to mitigate the small car safety problem. These solutions include actions the consumer can take to improve the safety of small car operation. They also include actions the Government has taken to develop and test vehicles with higher levels of safety and to develop information about automobile safety for the consumer. Although research conducted to date indicates that improved crash performance of small cars is easily possible and that a large variation exists in the crash test results of different small cars on the market, no solution is offered to individual consumers who desire higher levels of safety in their cars. Suggested actions to improve small car safety include (1) more perfect safety standards which insure that the worst cars perform as well as the best ones; (2) improved consumer information to allow consumers to select the level of safety they desire, and (3) continued research in safety improvements to determine the safety features which are most effective and to advise the consumer and the Government on the levels of safety which are feasible through advanced technology. (Author).

In 1980, a group of scientists from national laboratories, universities, and other research organizations gathered informally in a series of meetings to consider the state of research on risks to health, safety, and the environment. Each scientist had conducted research on the subject. All felt that the traditional disciplines and professional societies to which they belonged were neither ade quate nor appropriate for addressing the extraordinarily complex problems of assessing the risks inherent in modern society. The con sensus of the group was that a new society was needed to address these problems in a scientific and objective way. From these initial meetings, the Society for Risk Analysis was formed The major aims of the Society for Risk Analysis, as stated in its constitution, are • to promote knowledge and understanding of risk analysis techniques and their applications; • to promote communication and interaction among those engaged in risk analysis; and • to disseminate risk analysis information and promote the advancement of all aspects of risk analysis. Members of the Society are drawn from a variety of disciplines, including the health sciences, engineering, the physical sciences, the humanities, and the behavioral and social sciences. An import ant function of the Society is the annual meeting, at which var ious aspects of risk analysis are discussed. The first annual meet ing, represented by this volume, was the International Workshop on the Analysis of Actual vs.