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Professor of History
John.Heitmann@notes.udayton.edu
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Recent Scholarship & Works in Progress
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Dictionary of American History Entry: Automobile Safety John A. Heitmann Professor, Department of History University of Dayton 300 College Park Dayton, OH 45469-1540
Until the 1950s, little attention was paid to the problem of automobile safety in America. The typical American automobile featured dashboards with numerous hard protrusions, the absence of seatbelts, poor brakes and tires, non-collapsible steering columns, doors that opened on impact, seats and suspension systems that were too soft, and windshield glass that shattered easily. This neglect was the consequence of manufacturers' hubris, consumer preferences, the psychology of driving, and the failure of government to further public interest in this matter. Not surprisingly, over 30,000 Americans died as a result of traffic accidents in 1950, and that number increased to more than 50,000 two decades later. Yet despite obvious evidence to the contrary, industry maintained that it was not automobile design features, but drivers and their behaviors that caused accidents and injuries. Nevertheless, several forces for change began to converge during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Indeed, by the end of the 1960s, a once thought unassailable industry was brought to its knees by the rising tide of public opinion, regulatory legislation, and a newly created federal government bureaucracy. One major reason for the new emphasis on auto safety came as a result of enhanced technical knowledge about the "second crash" -- the collision of the automobile's passengers with the interior after initial exterior impact. Wartime studies done at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the Cornell University Medical College in New York on aircraft cockpit injuries were subsequently extended to an examination of similar phenomena inside automobiles at the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory. Evidence from these studies, coupled with the work of Detroit plastic surgeon Claire Straith on "guest' passenger injuries, clearly suggested that relatively simple design modifications could save lives and prevent serious injuries. However, when in 1955 and 1956 the industry was confronted with these facts, it failed to respond with enthusiasm, thus losing any chance to remain autonomous with regards to safety and design when legislation was passed a decade later. The convergence of forces for change took the industry by total surprise in the months immediately after the presidential election of 1964. The Johnson administration's willingness to sponsor social reform legislation, the appearance on the Washington scene of Ralph Nader, Abraham Ribicoff, and the American Trial Lawyers' Association are only part of the story. Additionally, widespread consumer dissatisfaction with the American automobile industry, its practices, and its increasingly defective products all contributed to the realization on the part of politicians that auto safety was a good political issue and news story. In 1966 Congress passed the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act establishing the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) within the Department of Commerce. This
agency established standards for production vehicles that included recessed and padded dashes, dual
braking systems, standard bumper heights, safety door latches, and impact absorbing steering columns.
NHTSA scope would later be expanded to include mandated public recall of defective vehicles, seat
belt enforcement issues, and actively campaigning to introduce passive restraints, including air bags.
Ever at the center of controversy, the NHTSA continues in the early 21st century to have its detractors
as well as supporters, the former arguing that enhanced safety features have in reality done little to
change the incidence of automobile deaths and injuries, events that ultimately must be traced to driver
judgment and behavior. (547 words)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Drew, Elizabeth Brenner. "The Politics of Auto Safety." Atlantic Monthly 218, (October 1966): 95-105. Eastman, Joel W. Styling vs. Safety: The American Automobile Industry and the Development of Automotive Safety, 1900-1966. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984. Flink, James J. The Automobile Age. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1990. |
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