ZF TRW has been thinking about how to defuse the dangerous side crash. An idea of security system suppliers is the development of a completely new kind of vehicle airbags.
Not on the inside, but on the outside, the airbag concept is intended to reduce the severity of a side impact by damping.
This airbag system is located in the side sill of the vehicle below the door. With a volume of 200 liters, the airbag is roughly twice the size of a conventional "Windows airbag" and two inflators are used to inflate it. This “side airbag” deploys in the milliseconds before a collision. Crash tests show that the airbag could reduce the damage in a side collision by up to 30 percent.
In an interview with Automotive News said Steve peterson, ZF TRW Director Global Systems Engineering for occupant safety: "This system could make sense especially for small cars whose vehicle height is below the average" There are still some technical challenges before the technology can go into series production in new cars. In contrast to airbags in the interior, the airbag must be able to withstand the corrosive effects of rain, snow, dirt and road salt. And because it has to unfold before a collision, the sensors and the software have to recognize the difference between a “near miss” and a crash that follows immediately. ZF TRW is researching and developing this system.