Commercial vehicles transport goods and people. Often, they have different regulations and do not contain many of the safety protections as passenger cars. According to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, approximately 340,000 medium- and heavy-duty trucks are involved in traffic crashes annually in the U.S. alone, resulting in 600 fatalities and 20,000 injured truck drivers. Autoliv is focusing its expertise in occupant safety toward this import market to help save more lives.
Commercial Vehicles
Airbags for Commercial Vehicles
The main role of an airbag is to inflate quickly, absorb energy and slow an occupant’s motion as evenly as possible during a crash. Airbags work in combination with seatbelts to minimize severe injuries and save lives. Autoliv is the world’s leading airbag manufacturer and we are applying this technology to modern-day commercial vehicles to protect drivers and passengers.
Driver Airbags are located in the steering wheel hub and deploy in less than 50 milliseconds, which is twice as fast as the blink of an eye. They protect the drivers head an upper body when deployed in a crash. Only a small percentage of commercial vehicles utilize this technology today, but manufacturers are pushing forward toward making them standard equipment.
Side-curtain airbags deploy in milliseconds and form a cushion between the occupant, the window and the side of a truck and they reduce the risk of life-threatening head injuries. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration more than half of commercial vehicle driver deaths happen during rollover accidents. Autoliv developed the first side-curtain airbag and is continuing to develop side-curtain solutions for commercial vehicles.
Seatbelts for Commercial Vehicles
The top lifesaving device in any vehicle is the seatbelt. When worn properly, they reduce the risk of death by 45%, and cut the risk of serious injury by 50%. Drivers that do not wear their seat belts are 30 times more likely to be ejected from a vehicle during a crash. Autoliv is the world’s leading producer of life-saving seatbelts.
A seatbelt is actually a safety system containing multiple highly engineered components that include the webbing, buckles, latches and retractor but also load limiters, pretensioners and active hardware to aid in comfort and saving lives. As a driver reaches for the seatbelt to initiate the buckling-up process, the retractor releases webbing to provide comfort to the occupant.
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Steering Wheels for Commercial Vehicles
For nearly 60 years, the steering wheel had no other purpose than turning a vehicle. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the steering wheel became a critical vehicle safety component. Today, Autoliv manufactures more than 20 million steering wheels manually
Autoliv manufactures steering wheels which are supremely crafted to ensure they meet safety requirements and are functional and stylish.
Pyrotechnical Safety Switches for Commercial Vehicles
Pyrotechnical Safety Switches (PSS) are a reliable safeguard against vehicle fires caused by short-circuiting. Autoliv uses airbag technologies to disconnect high voltage circuits in milliseconds before a short-circuit can occur.
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