Good after bad: Part 1

This week’s 5-part series will be touching on how design affects us after tragedy or disaster. We’ve seen, and some have experienced, events that have shaped humankind, and out of this bad sometimes a lot of good ensues. I’ll be looking at five different results-oriented disaster/scenarios. Here is part one.

Cars

As with any new and evolving invention – the car was built based on existing modes of transportation, hence the term horsepower. The original cars had large wheels, not unlike stage coaches, and like stage coaches they were open-cab, did not have headlights and did not need a key to start.

A modern car has myriad safety features and considerations, from the headlights to seat belts, from indoor seating to airbags. The design and addition of most of these features would have come from being witness to or incurring accidents or collisions. The first headlights offered in 1898 were an option. I mean, there might have only been a handful of cars, but an option? There still were plenty of things to hit, not to mention that roads really weren’t designed for cars – yet!

Restraint

The seatbelt is a feature in a car I can’t imagine not having, although I’m old enough to remember when rear seat belts were an add-on. The first patent for a seat belt was issued in 1885. The modern, retractable, version wasn’t worked on until the 1950s. It came out of reports from Dr. Hunter Sheldon a neurologist who noticed a number of head injuries and deaths from car collisions – with blame pointed to the fixed restraint seat belt in place – Dr. Sheldon also proposed reinforced roofs and airbags.

He was not an automotive engineer, yet he moved safety forward on cars because he dealt with the aftermath. He understood the impact (pun intended) that existing features were having on vehicle occupants during a collision. To go through a car and to think about every modern day safety accessory as an option is mind-blowing.

For every existing vehicle safety feature there was at least one, and most likely more deaths or injuries that were the catalyst for change. And those changes do not have to come from the experienced people within the automotive field. I would say more often than not – advancements come from various stakeholders connected to the incidents. They could come from people Like Dr. Sheldon – who dealt with the dead and injured. It could easily be someone who has survived being in an accident. And it sometimes is the ability to move technology from one field or focus over to another – like having mini-radar installations to help when backing up.

What is your favourite safety feature on a road vehicle?