Date: Tue, 18 Feb 92 16:45:56 -0500
From: memsthd@prism.gatech.edu (MIKE WILEMAN)
To: mm@lectroid.sw.stratus.com, quadrun@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu
Subject: Re: Volvo Safety
Cc: AI4CPHYW@miamiu.acs.muohio.edu, volvo-net@me.rochester.edu
Two interesting anecdotes about Volvo collision results. My father once struck a 245DL broadside (she ran a stop sign). He was driving a 1972 Ford LTD which probably weighed >2 tons fully loaded. The sheet metal of the driver's door and front fender were totally destroyed, but the steel frame remained intact. Neither the driver nor her infant were injured, even though neither was wearing a seat belt. My father's speed was probably about 30-40.
Also, recently in Atlanta the driver of a city bus had a seizure while at the wheel and floored the accelerator. He crossed two lanes of traffic and plowed into the exit of a parking garage at rush hour. I wasn't there, but the newspaper photos showed the volvo sedan which was at the front of the line waiting to leave the garage when the bus entered. The front end and the rear end were both flattened (the bus pushed the car into a pickup truck parked behind), but the passenger compartment was intact. The only person in the collision who spent the night in the hospital was the bus driver, so I don't think the volvo driver was seriously injured. The volvo didn't absorb the full momentum of the bus, because the bus wedged into the concrete entrance of the parking garage and stopped. Still, there aren't many cars that can survive an encounter with a Grumman bus without injuring the passengers.
Mike
MEMSTHD@PRISM.GATECH.EDU
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1992 13:10:01 PST
From: John_E_Werner.Wbst311@xerox.com
Subject: Re: Volvo Safety
To: volvo-net@me.rochester.edu
With everybody contributing stories of Volvo crash surviability, maybe we should collect the stories and send them to Volvo. I beleive they have a "Volvo save my life" club in the US now. It certainly wouldn't hurt their image of a safe car.
Anybody have an email address for Bob Austin? (I think he is still the head of PR at VCNA)
John
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1992 13:47:26 PST
From: Court_K_Packer.Wbst845@xerox.com
Subject: Re: Volvo Safety
To: John_E_Werner.Wbst311@xerox.com
Cc: volvo-net@me.rochester.edu
I just spoke with Volvo locally and they don't know about Volvo's "Volvo Saved My Life" program..
Call Bob Austin at Volvo....201-768-7300
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 92 16:52:36 PST
From: senator@cco.caltech.edu (Bill Bradley (D NJ))
To: volvo-net@me.rochester.edu
Subject: Speaking of Volvo's pictures in the news...
Mike W's comment of seeing a Volvo picture in the paper reminded me of one that was send to me by a friend in Pittsburgh last year. It seemed that one of the "Monster" truck owners decided to prove that the Volvo ads were phony(back around the claims of false advertizing for having the cars in the ads on jacks or reinforced. The picture was of a LARGE 4x4 truck(one of the crushing competition ones) being lifted off of a mid 70s 244. The Volvo was fine(well, it was a junkyard car, but it didn't suffer any damage) while the 4x4 had broken both drive axels, so it was being supported with all four wheels off the ground by the Volvo. I at least got a good laugh out of it. Did this picture get run anywhere out of the Pittsburgh area?
Bill
From: Chrome <ford@me.rochester.edu>
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 92 08:06:56 -0500
To: volvo-net@me.rochester.edu
Subject: Safety (Toyota tries on a 240 for size)
I was stopped, about 3 cars behind the stop sign and waiting, and for those of you who live in Seattle this was on Capital Hill having just picked my son up from Meany Middle, when a girl in an Escort pulled out from the cross street in front of me - there was enough space between me and the car in front of me. However, she did not look in the direction of oncoming traffic. No, she looked in some other direction, where probably interesting but certainly less relevant things were happening. She proceeded to pull in front of oncoming traffic, which just happened to be a young woman with a baby, in too much of a hurry to honk her horn. The Escort just caught her rear bumper, she (some older rather big Toyota wagon) proceeded to totally freak out and steer right into my rear left door. Well, as you know, these door won't have any of that, and the bar in the door (whose profile was clearly visible afterwards) shoved the Toyota away, and when it hit the rear door post that was it.It stopped the front of the Toyo dead, but the rear must still have been moving cause it swung completely around 180 deg, and ended up locked together, passenger door to drivers door with the Chevy pickup behind me. The towing co. could not separate them
I felt a little sorry for the Toyo. The Escort (she still did not really understand what happened I think) only lost a few front end bits. And the damage to the Volvo did not look that bad (one destroyed door, rear quarter panel, and rear tire). But the Toyo was a mess after hitting the Volvo (immovable object) and then the pickup (another immovable object)..
Herm, you are right about milliseconds being important in the seatbelts. I took a hard stop in the Corolla last night, and Tim's belt locked with his forehead about an inch from the windscreen. Had that been an accident...ugh!
roman
Date: Wed, 25 Mar 92 09:24:58 EST
From: wiegman@orion (Herman L. N. Wiegman)
To: E_POZZI@acc.haverford.edu, volvo-net@me.rochester.edu
Subject: Re: Saved My Life Club
>hi there volvovians...
another '84 240 saved my life two weeks ago when someone ran a redlight and
i hit an acura head-on at 50mph (they were going 40mph or so also)
i have broken nose and ribs but alas, i am alive...
Volvo has a Saved My Life Club which it takes very seriously.
I would encourage you to write them. Volvo uses the club as a testimate to their safety. Others might be influenced to demand better built cars... or simply buy a Volvo.
Attn: Saved My Life Club
Volvo Cars of N.A.
15 Volvo Dr.
Rockleigh, NJ 07647 {I'm not sure what the exact address is..}
herm
Herman L.N. Wiegman -> wiegman@orion.crd.ge.com
General Electric - Corporate Research & Development
the Flying Dutchman in the DSP swedish brick -
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1992 19:58 EDT
From: "live by the blade..." <E_POZZI@acc.haverford.edu>
Subject: advice for a '88 760
To: volvo-net@me.rochester.edu
hi there volvovians...
another '84 240 saved my life two weeks ago when someone ran a redlight and i hit an acura head-on at 50mph (they were going 40mph or so also) i have broken nose and ribs but alas, i am alive...well, i was wondering if anyone would like to share any advice to me about my intended purchase of an '88 760 99k miles the other option is a '87 740 turbo 55k miles
i quess the thing i am most scared about is working on this b260 engine myself? well, any pro/con responses would be welcomed...also, i am near philadelphia, pa if any one would like to call...
douglas dibella (215) 649-8259
thanks!
Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1992 19:42 EDT
From: "i am not a gladiator." <E_POZZI@acc.haverford.edu>
Subject: for all the terminally curious..
To: volvo-net@me.rochester.edu
hi there volvovians,
yes, i'm the one who wrote yesterday about an accident in which someone ran a redlight which i collided with and then hit an '89 acura head-on...i've only one person offer sympathy and a few ask WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER VEHICLE? i apologize if i don't sound `correct' because today i was operated on concerning the accident, my nose was rebroken to say the least...it hurts much worse than the actual accident. i skidded probably 30 feet and hit the acura in the passanger front side.the drivers airbag went off and he has mild concusion/trauma while the passanger's head hit the top of the windshield and recieved a dozen stitches I really don't know much else except that i didn't hit them exactly straight on and so thier car turned and was pushed backwards. my '84 240 was smashed to the engine and the engine/trans was pushed into the passenger side six inches or s, the whole right side recieved extensive damages also but all the doors were able to open up with a little force. i have two things to say about my car. one, i had `good' looking sporty pirelli 500's on the front and as soon as i got them on my car i knew they were a mistake...they have an agressive tread design and unfortuneatly they skid *very easily* they locked up and my back brakes did nothing, as far as i could tell.so i wonder why the gov't doesn't do brakeing performance tests for tires? or do they? i can't remember what else i had to say, i am very dizzy...any responses welcome... -douglas dibella
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 14:03:29 PDT
From: John_E_Werner.Wbst311@xerox.com
Subject: Volvo Safety (Re: volvo's targeted market)
To: AUTJW@asuvm.inre.asu.edu
Cc: John_E_Werner.Wbst311@xerox.com, swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu
>IS a new volvo as safe (structurally) as say a early 70's 142, 145 or 164????
>I think not, ...
I race a 140 and own both a 122 and a 740 Turbo. As far as I am concernced, the 740 is a much safer car. The difference is in the design of the car, not the weight, or size, etc. The newer cars absorb more energy before it gets to you. This is partly because of the bumpers, and partly because of design. The seat belts on the new cars are self tensioning, adding a lot more safety over the non-self adjusting ones of the 140s and 122s. (A loose seat belt is arguably almost like not having one on at all.)
>buy weight the newer cars are heavier ...the weight has increased substantially.
>From the registration cards in my pocket.
'65 122S 2360 lbs
'70 145S 2702 lbs
'87 740 Turbo 3026 lbs
The weight difference between the generations is about the same. The 200 series actually weigh more then the 700s.
Of course, my 145s is probably safer then 98 % of the cars out on the road now, but it also has a full roll cage, and five point racing harnessess.
John
From: martenbf@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Brian F. Marten)
Subject: Re: Volvo Safety (Re: volvo's targeted market)
To: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu (Volvo-Net)
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 92 16:27:09 EST
> >From the registration cards in my pocket.
> '65 122S 2360 lbs
> '70 145S 2702 lbs
> '87 740 Turbo 3026 lbs
> The weight difference between the generations is about the same. The 200 series actually weigh more then the 700s.
Oh yeah... my GLT '85 weighs 3500 lbs or so.
ttfn,
brian.
Wow! What a Concept! -- Wembley Fraggle.
From: Lori Michelle Kaufman <lmk2q@honi1.acc.virginia.edu>
Subject: Strength of Cars
To: Volvo Net <swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu>
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 13:42:57 EDT
With all the recent interest concerning the strength of Volvos versus other vehicles, I have found it necessary to let others know just how well a Volvo is engineered.
On December 6, 1991, my father was the only car stopped at a red light, when a moving van with a G.V.W. of 27,000 lbs. rear ended his 1988 Volvo 740 TGA at approximately 55 mph. His Volvo was sent air born for approximately 140 feet. The entire trunk was compressed even with the back seat, the rear window shattered, and the roof was buckled because the unibody broke. As designed, the "crumple zones" prevented any damage from occurring to the fuel tank. Since this was a rear end crash, the air bag did not deploy.
When the vehicle landed, my father released his safety belt, turned off the ignition, and walked away from the car. The only injuries that my father sustained were whiplash, bruises and various muscle injuries, none of which were severe enough to warrant a hospital stay. Interestingly enough, the attending physician in the ER asked what type of car he driving after learning of the severity of the accident. When my father said that it was a Volvo, the doctor was not at all surprised because of the lack of serious injuries sustained by my dad.
I am of the belief that very few vehicles could withstand such a crash and protect their occupants as did this Volvo, and I seriously doubt that my dad would even be alive today if he were in any car but a Volvo. Since the accident, my parents purchased a 1992 940 TGA as a replacement, and in typical Volvo fashion, this car meets the DOT 1997 (1996?) side-impact crash standards.
By the way, my parents have been driving Volvos since 1968, and have nothing but praise for their performance and durability. In this time, they have had a 1969 144 S, a 1984 GL, which my mother still drives, in addition to the 1988 740 TGA and 1992 940 TGA.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lori M. Kaufman Dept. of Electrical Engineering
(804) 982-2375 [office] Room C227
Thornton Hall
(804) 924-8818 [fax] University of Virginia
e-mail: lmk2q@Virginia.EDU Charlottesville, VA
22903-2442
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 92 13:04:43 CDT
From: barnett@mcc.com (Jim Barnett)
To: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu
Subject: Volvo safety
I've got a pamphlet from some insurance group that lists collision and injury results for 89-91 models of a variety of cars. There's no guarantee that this stuff means anything, but it's based on real road experience, so I thought I'd pass it along (would anyone like to post the lab test data for comparison?)
The most interesting bit of data is frequency of injuries costing over $500. The data is measured in terms of frequency of claims per insured vechicle per year (I assume it's US only) and then standardized, with 100 being the norm for all cars (a score of 110 indicates 10% more claims than average, 93% would indicate 7% fewer claims than average.) For Volvos, we have:
740/60 sedan: 92
740/760 wagon: 41 <== (the _lowest_ figure for any car listed)
240 sedan: 86
240 wagon: 74 <== (this number is for relative overall injury - not enough data on injury over $500)
There's obviously a very strong driver effect: the 700-series wagon is the safest car listed, while the sedan is only a bit above average. The 240 wagon is also safer than the 240 sedan. But I don't think there's any structural difference between the wagons and the sedans - people must just drive the wagons more cautiously - that's the stereotype, right? Mom and kids moseying along in the wagon, while Dad takes out his aggressions in the sedan. :)
The 240 sedan is a bit safer (4 points) than the 740/760 (could this be because of the lack of a turbo model?) But the 700 wagon is much safer (33 points) than the 240 wagon. Is there a structural difference that would explain this?
And as an aside to whoever it was who mentioned a nice, cheap Hyundai as an alternative - the 4-door Excel is the most dangerous car listed, with a score of 190.
Another interesting little factoid - the _Corvette_ is safer (68) than all Volvos except the 700 wagon... come to think of it, when was the last time you were tailgated by a Corvette? That fibreglass body must make them cautious. I wonder what the rate of _fatal_ accidents is in Corvettes...
Jim
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 92 15:35:32 -0500
From: haber@cs.wisc.edu (Eben Merriam Haber)
To: barnett@mcc.com
Subject: Re: Volvo safety
Cc: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu
> Another interesting little factoid - the _Corvette_ is safer (68)
>than all Volvos except the 700 wagon... come to think of it, when was
>the last time you were tailgated by a Corvette? That fibreglass body
>must make them cautious. I wonder what the rate of _fatal_accidents
>is in Corvettes...
In a recent study of fatal crashes per 10,000 cars on the road, the Corvette marked up the highest number of fatalities (more than 4 per 10,000cars), whereas the 240 wagon had the lowest (around 0.5 per 10,000).
Of course, it seems that added to your numbers, this indicates that Corvette drivers are less likely to be in an accident than Volvo drivers, but that they're more likely to die as a result...
Eben M Haber & Rupert R Volvo
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1992 16:42:45 -0400
From: memsthd@prism.gatech.edu (MIKE WILEMAN)
To: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu
Subject: Seat belts
I always thought that shoulderbelts in the back seat were a safety plus, too. Last week I actually sat in the backseat of my 245, and I realized that these things are designed for kiddies. Then I started looking at the attachments in the cargo compartment, and it's not obvious how to adjust the attachment point. The body manual is also silent on this issue.
Are these things not meant to be adjusted, or does someone know a trick. There are no exposed bolts and no obvious clips that can be removed. Surely there must be some way to at least remove them, even if they aren't adjustable.
Any ideas?
Regarding exhaust rusting out from short trips: I had my crossover pipe replaced last week at a local Volvo shop (not a dealer but they use only original parts). I had originally planned to do this myself, but decided there was too much grunt work involved.
Anyway, I had bought an aftermarket muffler at Volu-Parts, and the material of this muffler was obviously different from the material of the original volvo exhaust pipe. The Volu-Parts muffler was just painted, while the Volvo parts were galvanized. The mechanic I talked to said that these mufflers tend to rattle after a year or so when the insides begin to come undone. Anyway, I'll definitely stick to original parts for exhaust work from now on.
Mike
'84 245 DL
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 92 11:18:17 EST
From: wiegman@orion (Herman L. N. Wiegman)
To: mm@lectroid.sw.stratus.com, volvo-net@me.rochester.edu, wiegman@orion
Subject: Re: Volvo Safety
> "Really? You wrecked a Volvo?"
You want to hear my story? (here it comes anyway.. I may just be preaching to the saints, but I feel that this is a very important issue.)
All my six siblings and I drove to high school (It was 18 miles away for me in New Hampshire). I was the fifth one to drive my dad's old 144 DL to school.
One day, on my way home, my passenger and I came up on an intersection where the roads met at a odd angle. The car approaching from my right barely stopped for the stop sign and then proceeded into the county two-lane. My skid marks were only 80 feet long and angled from my original position straight to the telephone pole which stood at the opposite corner. The driver of the other car was damn lucky that I turned to the left some before the tires locked up. I would have hit him at about 50mph. Lucky for him I hit the telephone pole instead.
Stopping a 3000lbs car into an object 1 foot wide is akin to throwing a watermellon at a Ginsu knife. Everthing in the path of the pole was crushed up to the dashboard. The hood looked like a spong with an elastic band around it. The dash was moved onto my lap and the driver's foot well was filled with the headlight, battery, front suspension, tire and brake booster. Lucky for me, my feet were thrown under the seat and accross my lap.
The Volvo passenger compartment was still in very good shape. My seat did angle back after the impact as it was designed to, the crumple zones did their best to absorb the impact, and the steering column was compressed to a 18" accordion. The seat belts locked up within a few milli seconds so the dammage due to flailing was minimized.
Three hours later I was in the hospital. Three weeks later I was home, three months later I was back in school, and three years later I started playing basketball again.
> "Yeah, I had to go to the hospital, I hit my head and had a bruised rib. If I had my seatbelt on, chances are I wouldn't have had to go to the hospital."
Probably true. I had my seatbelt on and I ended up in the hospital for more time than the nurses would have liked. Now I use harnesses to keep my butt planted in those orthopedic seats. Keep those seat belts tight against you! Soon you'll feel naked without that secure pressure.
> The story was that the 164 had been hit by a Camero doing in excess of 100MPH (you could still find plastic and other GM fluff embedded in the 164)
Seldom has anyone lived through a 100mph crash in a street car. Let's hope that the Camaro driver survived and found out that he/she should not run into sturdy swedes. :) or at least not MY swede!
Herm
Herman L.N. Wiegman --------- ---------
the Flying Dutchman | | | || V || | | |
DSP swedish brick | =======| |======= |
============================ <-nice 5mph+ bumpers
wiegman@orion.crd.ge.com ============================
Date: 10 Mar 1993 09:31:06 -0500 (EST)
From: V093P9MD@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu
Subject: Volvo and safety
To: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu
On an other note: Better crash testing (this is also from the same Motor Trend issue). The institute for highway safety recently looked at 17 auto companies to see what kind of crash testing they were doing. "In addition to the 30-MPH crash test required by the federal government, most companies were also testing their cars at 50 MPH. Seven were already conducting frontal offset barrier crashes, nine were testing for rollover, eight were doing car-to-car crashes, and 12 were running cars into poles and under trucks, and seven were knocking off simulated pedestrians or animals (I wouldn't be surprised if GM still used real animals... they still stap pigs into seat belts to see how they do...). But only the European-Mercedes, Saab, VW/Audi, and Volvo were doing all the above."
Sorry about the sinicle remark about GM, no flamer intended, but they are the only car company still using anuimals to test their cars. Volvo has been using anthrophemorphic (possible Spelling error) dummies for a long time (for that matter so has the rest of the automotive world).
Happy Motoring,
Andre'
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 93 15:01:40 PDT
From: maj@frame.com (Michael Jue)
To: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu
Subject: Volvo rollover protection
Well, folks, I just saw how well a Volvo (a late model 240DL in this case) holds up under a freeway speed rollover...(I still have the shivers!)
On my way back from the parts store during lunch today, I got stuck in a "better just shut off the motor" traffic jam on the interstate near my office today. The news radio station (with 24 hour traffic watch) I was listening to said that "880 south closed due to an overturned vehicle." Great, I think, just what I need to see after that polish sausage I had for lunch..." Sorry, that's how I felt... :=(
Well, closing in on the accident scene, I spot this car, on its roof, unidentifiable due to the damage to front and rear (plus it's hard to tell what kind of car it is when you're not accustomed to seeing them upside down.) As I creep past, I see the Volvo emblems on the wheels and note that the driver is out of the car, leaning on the median strip, seemingly OK, talking to the highway patrol.
Amazing thing, the roof did not appear to have moved at all despite what looked like a pretty heavy duty hit front and/or rear and a nice "Ricky Henderson style slide" on it's roof, at speed (evident by the start of the debris fallout to where the car ended up). Incidentally, down the road aways was a stopped cargo truck (the big variety) in the lane (as there are no shoulders on this byway during construction.) Oh boy, another obstacle to practice my autocross maneuvers around! Don't know what the role of the truck was in this accident but can surmise it had something to do with the accident.
Net of it all, driver seemed ok, the Volvo's famed crumple zones seemed to have done their job and I'M STICKING WITH VOLVO!!!!!
Have a nice day, netters! (I'm doing 55 tonight...)
Michael
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 14:25:48 EDT
From: 29-Apr-1993 1414 <corey@cthq.enet.dec.com>
To: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu
Cc: corey@cthq.enet.dec.com
Subject: 850 GLT Crash observation
While searching around a junkyard in my local area this weekend for a parking lens for my 245 I came across an 850 that had been in a tremendous rear-end crash. I thought my observations might prove interesting to the net...
This 850 had been rear-ended so hard that the trunk was pushed ALL THE WAY TO THE REAR WINDOW. I would say no more than a foot of the trunk and fender sheet-metal was projecting out from the window in the back. In addition, the car was evidently propelled forward into something else because there was a light-pole like indentation in the front grille area. This impact (hard to tell if it came before or after the rear-end crash) was hard enough to set off both air-bags. The driver's seat has collapsed backwards quite a bit but did not appear to be broken, just deformed backward. The point off all this is that the rear glass was not broken. The car was locked, but it appeared that all four doors were untouched and openable. The passenger area looked to be intact. By the way, I was not surprised to see the driver's seat tilted back. From the looks of the rear impact, it seems like this 850 got hit by a large truck. A good portion of the rear bumper was still recognizable and untouched, although it was sitting up under the rear window with the rest of the rear-end. It was an impressive sight, especially if you stood there and imagined yourself as the driver.
Chris Corey
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 06:15:19 PDT
From: John_E_Werner.Wbst311@xerox.com
Subject: Re: 850 crash
To: walowitz@acsu.buffalo.edu
Cc: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu, mshafer@acsu.buffalo.edu
> in certain accidents,
>under certain conditions, it is a benefit
>to the driver for his seat to recoil after he slams back into it.
What kills people in car crashes? The obvious things are extreme external trama. The other major factor is internal trama. The stuff inside of the body is not rigidly fastened to anything. It moves around rather freely and is subject to acceleration and deceleration forces. Problems arive when the outside of the body is suddenly accelerated and the inside of the body has to play catch up. Often, it does not do a good job at this. Think of your brain as a water filled sponge in the center of a hollow steel ball. If you move everything nice and slowly, the sponge moves along. If you accelerate it very hard (i.e. by throwing it against the ground), the spong will smush up on one side of the ball. Now, remember, that's your brain...Not something I want to happen.
The US Air Force has some very interesting numbers on the acceleration forces the body can with stand. Consider that most modern jet fighters handle so well that they could kill the pilot.
How do car manufacturers control the acceleration forces on the body. Obviously, the great forces need come only in crash situations. One method is crumple zones. Think of the steel ball wrapped in lots of crepe' paper. Another is seat belts. Seat belts stretch in a crash and should _always_ be replaced afterwards. Air bags are another answer (throw the steel ball into a pillow). Most of these only help in head on crashes.
The driver's acceleration is controlled by the seat belts when he goes forward, but what if he is thrown backwards? The seat needs to control his acceleration backwards. This can be done somewhat by padding, but you still need some travel distance. This comes from the seat deforming. I got rear-ended in a Mazda GLC by a lady doing 40. (" I thought you were going to run the red light so I was going to follow you through..."). It laid my seat almost flat, but I walked away.
One final note, VW may not have the safety reputation that Volvo or Mercedes do, but they are still very good. I have had the oppurtunity to study their real world crash behavior both from a first hand point of view and from seeing rally cars afterwards.
Oh yes, a question: If I told you I saw a pro-rally Eagle Talon that had every body panel smashed / ripped off, and every glass section broken after rolling end over end several times, what would you tell me about the condition of the drivers? Well, besides for a couple of bruises, they were fine. The destruction of the exterior of the car while it tumbled used up the crash energy.
John
Date: 28 Jun 93 18:43:01 GMT
To: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu
Subject: infant seats and A/C repair
Ron Tewksbury ront@twg.com writes:
>1. My wife and I are about to experience firsthand the Joys of
>Parenthood. One of the things we have to do is to put and infant
>seat in our 1975 164. How do you do this with the retractable
>seat belts? Is there a way to make them non - retratable? I read
>the owners manual, and all it says is that "children under 8 -
>10 years old should not use the seatbelts." I think our local
>police station would have something to say about this! Seatbelt
>use is mandatory in Sunny California...
Most modern child safety seats ship with a small metal clip, called something like a seatbelt locking clip or such. It looks kind of like a belt buckle. It is attached to the seatbelt holding the child seat in place, and helps prevent it from extending and letting the child seat lurch forward in an accident.
They're a tad tricky to install correctly, so read the instructions carefully. If your seat didn't include one, you can usually buy one at a baby-supply store. Or, if your seat is used and too old to include one, you might conside buying a new seat altogether to take advantage of any safety improvements.
Best advice of all would be to belt the child seat into the middle back seat position. Not only doesn't that belt retract/extend, but that's the safest position to be in in an accident (farthest from any point of impact).
Congratulations, good luck, and remember that buckling your tyke down, police notwithstanding, is a damned important thing to do every time.
Gary
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 93 15:42:49 +0100
From: co@mednt2.sunet.se
To: "swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu"@kth.sunet.se
Subject: Side impact airbags
Volvo introduces side impact airbags in some models at 1995.
The new airbag would be placed in side of the seat between the driver and door. The airbag is small and contains only 12 litres (the normal airbag has a volume of 70 litres). With placing the airbag in the seat, the airbag works well even if the driver adjusts the seat. Other similiar showen solutions was airbags in the door, but Volvo choosed the better place in the seat.
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1993 13:56 EST
From: Jim Greenberg <JAG2@vms.cis.pitt.edu>
Subject: Volvo in the Media
To: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu
This Sunday's NYTimes had a nice review of the 855T. They were quite laudatory. See Marshall Schuon's column in section 1. Also, Volvo seems to have finally gotten their ad agency problems straightened out: I caught a truly beautiful commercial on TV today. It features some absolutely fantastic a capella choral music (British style: Britten or Walton-esque) behind pictures of various people doing various things, names of people included, and at the end the announcer's voice comes on and says something to the effect that the one thing that these people all have in common is that a car saved their life! Then black screen with Volvo logo and, "Drive safely."
-Jim
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