Seeing automobile safety features in action during an accident gives an appreciation for the engineering behind those features.
In my life so far, I have been involved in two major car accidents. By major, I mean the damage to the vehicle in each case was enough to consider the car totaled.
The first accident was in 1995, and the car I was driving did not have the advanced safety features available today, such as airbags. I was wearing my seatbelt, and I know that certainly prevented serious injury. Thankfully, no one was hurt, other than mild bumps and bruises. I was shaken, however, and felt "off" for several days.
The second accident was in 2007. The car I was driving then was a far newer vehicle, complete with driver and passenger airbags, and had excellent crash test ratings. The airbags deployed, the seatbelt held me and my two children in place, and the damage was completely localized to one quarter of the vehicle. My children were both young enough to be buckled into safety seats, and the only injuries they experienced were bit tongues. I received a few minor bruises, but I was not shaken up as much as in my previous accident. The crumple zone in the front of my car absorbed a significant amount of energy, so much so that my car did not move far after the initial impact. I remember that in the previous accident that the car bounced off of the initial impact significantly.
The understanding of the behavior of vehicles and occupants during collisions has led to significant innovations in automobile safety. As an engineer who has studied the physics of collisions in general and crashworthiness of vehicles in particular, I gained a new appreciation for the engineering of the safety features of my car by experiencing them in action.
