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Cars too heavy – crash barriers often no longer hold up in the event of an accident

2022-09-22T13:21:22.848Z


SUVs and e-cars are increasingly being used on the roads – but according to a media report, crash barriers and crash barriers are not designed for them. Vehicles crash through more often, airbags deploy incorrectly.


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According to the report, crash barriers are still being tested according to regulations from the 1990s

Photo: Fabrizio Aloisi/EyeEm/Getty Images

They are intended to prevent cars and motorcycles from leaving the road: crash barriers are part of everyday life on the road.

However, the protective function is no longer fully guaranteed, as reported by the automobile magazine "auto motor und sport".

According to the magazine, insurers are warning that steel crash barriers and concrete crash barriers in Germany are no longer tailored to current vehicle models.

They were based on significantly lighter and lower cars from the 1980s and 1990s - entirely in accordance with DIN regulations.

"The study found that in about every tenth case, crash barriers were driven over, under or breached, and at least every tenth crash resulted in a rollover," said Siegfried Brockmann, head of accident research for insurers in the German Insurance Association (GDV ) the magazine.

"I roughly estimate that in every tenth accident involving a crash against a protective device, the injuries could have been at least less severe."

In some cases, vehicles would also be thrown back by concrete protective walls in such a way that the occupants would be seriously injured if the car crashed or rolled over.

In addition, some airbags triggered incorrectly.

According to the report, the regulations for crash barriers are more than thirty years old.

The tests are prescribed for cars in three vehicle classes: 900, 1300 and 1500 kilograms total weight.

But even in the small car segment, there are no longer any 900-kilogram cars.

The average new car weighed more than 1,600 kilograms in 2020.

Many passenger cars (cars) currently weigh two and a half tons and are also significantly higher than thirty years ago.

According to the report, Siegfried Brockmann, head of accident research for insurers in the General Association of the German Insurance Industry (GDV), with reference to a new study by the GDV, says around ten percent of the accidents could be less serious if the crash barriers and protective walls were built appropriately.

As a further problem, airbags would sometimes no longer be triggered correctly.

That was the result of a crash test by the insurers.

Brockmann therefore demands that the standards be adapted and modern vehicles used for the tests.

However, the GDV doubts that this will be implemented quickly.

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Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2022-09-22

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