INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVe ENGINEERING

(MECH 2211)

SEMESTER 2 2016/2017

MALFUNCTION OF SAFESTY FEATURES OF

COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

DATE SUBMISSION: 12/5/2017

NAME: MUHAMMAD FAIZ BIN AHMAD FAUZI

MATRIC NO: 1528025
PROGRAMME: MECHANICAL – AUTOMOTIVE
SECTION: 1
INSTRUCTOR NAME: DR. HILMI BIN HELA LADIN
 Many cars today come equipped with advanced safety features that are designed to
reduce the chance of sustaining injuries while traveling. Safety features that are aimed at
preventing motorist injury can range from a simple seatbelt to antilock brakes to forward
crash avoidance systems and rear-view cameras. The advancements in safety devices over the
past several decades have both helped to reduce crashes and have made it possible for more
motorists to survive when crashes do occur.

Unfortunately, sometimes the very safety features that are designed to be helpful in
protecting consumers can end up malfunctioning and causing great harm. A key example of
this involves Takata airbags which violently exploded and caused many motorists to be
seriously injured or killed in what should have been minor or no-injury accidents and simple
fender-benders.

If safety features fail in a car, this failure could prompt a widespread recall if the
defect or problem affects all vehicles of a particular make or model. For those whose cars are
having repeated problems that are not subject to a recall, however, resolving your problems
could be more challenging. Nevertheless, it may be possible to explore different legal options
with the help of a law attorney.

Safety features of commercial vehicles:

 Airbags
 Anti – lock Brakes System (ABS)
 Seatbelts
 Electronic Stability Control
 Traction Control
 Tire Pressures monitors
 Blind Spot Warning System
Some of those safety features may be malfunction that can cause severe injuries when
accident occurred. For instances:
Airbags
There are a few common reasons why there might be no airbag deployment after an accident
1. Speed Threshold
Most airbags are designed to deploy at a certain speed. Accidents that don't trip the
sensor will not cause the airbags to deploy. There are cases where airbag deployment
during a low speed accident has hurt the driver more than the actual accident. Most
airbags are designed to have a threshold barrier of 14 mph, above which they will
deploy. There is also a lower limit of 8 mph, below which the airbag will not deploy.
These specifications change from model to model, so read the owner's manual
completely.

2. Passenger Sensors
Most cars have sensors that detect the passengers sitting inside the car. That means if
you have a single person in the driver's seat, only the air bag in the driver's side will
inflate. Children cannot be detected by the sensors that are calibrated to an adult's
body weight. Make sure that you seat children in the back seat just for this reason.
 3. Accident Direction
The actual direction of the accident also makes a difference. For example, your front
airbags should not deploy on side impacts or rollovers. This is because side airbags,
curtain airbags and rollover airbags have to deploy to deal with the side to side
deceleration.

Anti – lock Brakes System (ABS)

Before antilock brakes came along, it was all too easy to lock up the wheels (stop
them from turning) during hard braking. Sliding the front tires makes it impossible to steer,
particularly on slippery surfaces. ABS prevents this from happening by using sensors at each
wheel and a computer that maximizes braking action at each individual wheel to prevent
lock-up. ABS allows the driver to retain steering control while braking, so that the car can be
maneuvered around an obstacle, if necessary. Some drivers, unaccustomed to ABS actuation,
may be alarmed as the pulsing sensation conveyed through the brake pedal and chattering at
the wheels when used. Not to worry. This is the system rapidly applying the brakes to provide
maximum power and control. The trick is to push hard on the pedal and let the system do its
job.

The ABS Brake failure causes two types of accidents:

1. Distracted Driver Incident (DDI) when the foot is only on the brake and the brake
fails.

When the driver intends to stop his car, and puts his foot on the brake pedal, an ABS
Brake failure will likely cause a serious wreck. The driver has only 2 - 6 seconds
before serious injury or death. In these few seconds of panic, the driver will not have
time to analyse what is actually happening and be able to tell the true details of the
brake failure that caused the accident. No one has told drivers that the ABS Brakes
can fail and very few realize what happened.

2. Spectacular Crash Incident (SCI) when the foot is on the brake and also over the
accelerator pedal - this causes sudden (unintended) acceleration which has alluded
NHTSA and experts for decades.

When the driver intends to stop his car, and puts his foot on the brake pedal, an ABS
Brake failure will cause a much more serious wreck if the foot on the brake is placed
slightly to the right of the brake pedal or angles his foot so the foot also covers a
portion of the accelerator pedal. This bad habit of foot placement will never be an
issue when the brakes are working properly because the brake pedal stops before the
misplaced foot will touch the accelerator pedal. When the ABS Brake fails and the
brake pedal goes to the floor with no braking action on the car, the accelerator is
pressed to the floor along with the brake pedal. The driver knows his foot is on the
brake as he presses it to the floor. The car starts to rapidly speed up because the
brakes have failed and the foot is pressing the accelerator to the floor with the brake
pedal. The driver has only 2 - 10 seconds before serious injury or death. In these few
seconds of panic, the driver will not have time to analyse what is actually happening
and be able to tell the true details of the brake failure that caused the accident.
Seatbelt

A defect in an automobile’s seat belts can be determined by various factors after an

accident has taken place. If a person sustains serious injuries in a traffic collision and the seat
belt is still intact after the primary and secondary impacts, then it is possible that the seat belt
loosened and allowed the driver or passenger to experience the secondary impact, instead of
protecting against injury. If the seat belt is found to be loose after an accident, then it was
likely defective as well. The belt is also obviously defective if it is found unclipped or torn
after the collision.

Some common ways that seat belts can fail are:

1. Seat belt latch failure. A seat belt buckle can unlatch inadvertently, which can be
caused by inertial unlatching, false latching, and inadvertent unlatching.

2. Spooling. Spooling occurs when too much of the seat belt webbing is let out, which
causes movement in the occupant.

3. Retractor failure. Retractor failure occurs when the lock or tightening of the seat
belt should take place to immediate confine the occupant securely, but this action does
not occur.

Tire Pressures monitors

Nowadays, some people just depend on electronic system only and do not know how
to do it manually like checking tire pressure. So, when the tire pressure monitor fails they will
not know the condition of their vehicles so this is very dangerous.
Driving on under-inflated tires is dangerous. According to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, almost 1/3 of passenger cars, light trucks and SUVs are being
driven with at least one under-inflated tire.

Under-inflation is one of the leading causes of tire failure. If tire pressure is too low,
too much of the tire’s surface area touches the road, which increases friction. Increased
friction can cause the tires to overheat, which can lead to premature wear, tread separation
and blowouts.

Blowouts can put the driver of the vehicle with the damaged tire as well as other
drivers in harm’s way. A blowout could cause the driver to lose control of his vehicle and
crash. Depending on the severity of the blowout, other drivers might swerve to avoid pieces
of flying debris from the blown tire and crash their vehicles.

Blind Spot Warning System

Blind Spot Warning System is only an aid designed to assist driving. It may fail to
detect some vehicles and is no substitute for attentive driving. It may not detect road and
traffic conditions. It may fail to detect narrow vehicles, such as motorcycles or bicycles, or
may only detect them too late. Monitoring may be affected by dirty sensors, strong spray or
poor visibility caused by snow, rain or mist. In this case, vehicles are detected late or not at
all.
 There are several corrective and preventive measures that can be applied to reduce the
possibility of fatality during road accidents.
1. Better to put the kids at the back seats. But if you have three children or you’re
accommodating other kids and you can’t fit everyone in the back, put the most
physically mature child in the front seat and deactivate the airbag. Then slide the seat
back as far as it will go, without impeding the car seat behind, so the child won’t hit
the dashboard if there’s a sudden stop.
2. Keep your vehicle in good mechanical order. Replace worn tires and brakes as needed.
Keep windshield washer fluid full and change out windshield wipers on a regular basis.

3. Wear your seatbelt. Not only do seatbelts keep you safe in an accident, it will help you
avoid accidents as well. Seatbelts will hold you in place during an aggressive
manoeuvre. If you make an abrupt manoeuvred, you may find yourself thrown to the
passenger side of the vehicle. Remember to make your passengers buckle up, too.

4. Read caution signs: Caution signs are very important as they warn about accident prone
spots so that the driver can reduce the speed of the vehicle. Signboards on the road are
vital clues about road design so that the person behind the wheel can exercise caution.

5. Turn your head to check for traffic before changing lanes. Do not rely on your mirrors
when making a lane change. All vehicles have “blind spots” in which your mirrors
cannot see. Do not ride in the blind spots of other vehicles.

6. Use your signals properly. Always use your signal, even if you think no one is there.
When changing lanes on the freeway, don’t signal as an afterthought or during the
lane change. Signal at least a couple of seconds in advance so others know what
you’re going to do before you do it. (Ever notice how most of the skid marks along
the highway are just before an exit ramp? – this is where you have to be the most
careful.)
7. Keep your eyes moving. Don’t get in the habit of staring at the back of the car ahead
of you. Periodically shift your eyes to the side-view mirrors, the rear-view mirror, and
ahead to where you’ll be in 10-15 seconds. Doing this, you can spot a potentially
dangerous situation before it happens.
8. Don’t tailgate. No matter how slowly traffic is moving, keep at least two seconds of
following distance between you and the car ahead. Any less and you won’t be able to
stop in time if the driver ahead slams on the brakes.

Conclusion
As we all knew, even though vehicles are very high technology system, there also
have weaknesses like malfunction of the system. So, we have to aware of those things to
avoid any severe injuries or accidents. Road safety is a collective effort of the government
and people. While the government administration must leave no stone unturned in ensuring
proper condition of the roads and enforcing strict adherence to traffic rules, responsible
driving and the right attitude of people with respect to traffic rules is perhaps the first step on
the long road to 100% safety on the roads.