THE VOLVO S80 INFLATABLE CURTAIN

January 2001

AMERICAN CRASH TESTS PROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE VOLVO S80 INFLATABLE CURTAIN

In recent side crash tests carried out by the American Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), the performance of the Inflatable Curtain (IC) of Volvo cars once again became evident when it comes to the protection of the occupants’ heads. When hit from the side, the front and rear occupants of the Volvo S80 – and other Volvos – stand a good chance to avoid severe injuries thanks to the side impact protection system of the car which includes the SIPS side airbag and the Inflatable Curtain.

IIHS tested the Volvo S80in two different situations: Firstly by letting the car travel at 16 mph (26 kph) and being hit straight from the left side by a pickup truck travelling at 32 mph (51 kph), and secondly by letting the car travel sideways into a narrow pole at 18 mph (29 kph). In the pickup truck-to-car test, two S80s of model year 1999 were used. One with IC and one without. Both had the SIPS side airbag. The tests clearly show that the forces recorded on the occupants’ heads with the IC protection were significantly less than without since the IC provided a cushion between the occupants and the hood of the truck. Torso forces were similarly low in both versions thanks to the SIPS bags.

Head airbags make big difference The crash test without IC were carried out to show the significance of this type of protection but must be considered less realistic since all Volvo S80s are equipped with IC as standard. “These crash tests demonstrate that head airbags can make very serious vehicle-to-vehicle side impacts survivable by preventing the intruding vehicle structure from striking occupants’ heads. Without head airbags, serious or fatal head injuries become more likely,” says IIHS president Brian O’Neill.

Hitting a narrow pole from the side is in fact also a very severe type of accident. Again the SIPS bag and the IC of the Volvo S80 proved its efficency by protecting the front and rear occupants’ torsos and heads and exposing them to low forces.

“These tests demonstrate that people can survive serious side impact crashes in the real world because head airbags prevent their heads from striking rigid objects” O’Neill says, adding that ”side airbags with head protection represent a very important safety development that will save lives and prevent major head trauma in a range of serious side impact crashes”.

Side impact protection pioneered by Volvo Side impact protection represent a big share of real life accidents and has been in the focus of safety research at Volvo Cars for many years. In 1991 the SIPS side impact protection system was introduced with the launch of the Volvo 850, and in 1994 the SIPS side airbag was added for further protection.

In 1998, when the Volvo S80 was launched, it featured the IC which was also to become a safety feature of the other Volvo models. Today it is standard equipment in all Volvo models except for the C70 coupe and convertible which instead have the head and chest side airbag due to technical structural reasons.

“ These tests confirm the efficiency of the Inflatable Curtain as well as showing the benefits of a well balanced structure and interior” says Stefan Nilsson, Director of the Safety Centre at Volvo Cars.