Author : Yusuf Idris Patrawala, Rajashree D. Ghorpade and Rahul G Gore

Road accidents are a human tragedy. Statistical figures demonstrate the need for an improved protection directed towards pedestrians, making the subject an upcoming field of research and development. This paper achieves its objective by comparing the ways in which automobiles can be designed to help reduce pedestrian fatalities, one being a world-first pedestrian airbag technology, addressing pedestrian protection in most situations when struck from the front end, consequently impacting onto the hood and the area around the windscreen-wiper recess and A-pillar, focus is made to help cushion the impact for a pedestrian by discussing the advanced technology along with various developments made in the design of the hood and introduction of an alternative to the front bumper system, economically allowing for sufficient safety. An overview of statistics, frequency of injury to different body parts, numerous tests and the complete chain of events from detection of a pedestrian to final state of deployment is studied. The methodology may be further applied in evaluating other vehicular technologies for traffic safety and the outcomes may effectively be utilized in establishing relevant traffic safety policies. In addition, some experimental concepts are presented along, to further increase the scope of the paper for future research.

Keywords: Pedestrian Safety, Passive Protection, Pedestrian Airbag, Future Airbag Technology, Advanced Vehicular Design.

Article published in International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Vol.6, No.5 (Oct-2016)