Automobile Accident & Safety Research at Cornell University Hugh Dehaven 53884 (1954)

Synopsis

This 1954 CBS Television public affairs presentation of the news program “The Search” is titled “Automobile Safety Research” and takes the viewer to Cornell University for a look at the latest in automotive safety. Hosted by revered newsman Walter Cronkite, he explains how an increase in cars on the highway has also led to increased traffic fatalities. There is a scene of a mangled automobile (mark 02:08 ) as men survey the wreckage and we learn how investigators use highway accidents as “living laboratories” to develop safer vehicles. At mark 04:55 we meet Hugh DeHaven, the so-called “Father of Crash Survivability” who started the Crash Injury Research project at Cornell, and discusses the odds of surviving a crash. Cronkite returns at mark 06:28 to discuss recent discoveries regarding head injuries as a model of a human head is dropped from various heights. Following additional experiments using a sheet metal figure (mark 09:24 ), researchers explain another way to prevent injuries — the seatbelt (mark 11:15 ) — a chest pad installed on the steering wheel. There are scenes using full-sized automobiles starting at mark 12:20 that also demonstrate injury scenarios, and we watch the experiment in regular speed plus slow motion. After reiterating the importance of seat belts (mark 18:35 ), the film continues with an explanation of how research will continue to find new ways to make automobiles safer during Sunday drives, including new padding material, at at mark 20:35 CBS…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time

25 minutes

Language

English

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage