Wednesday, August 3, 2005

Ford Motor Co. The 2006 Ford Explorer has a finely tuned safety system that lessens the chance of injury.

Consumer's Eye

Explorer boasts multistage air bags

Advanced system differentiates between child seat and small, medium, large adults.

By Anita Lienert / Special to The Detroit News

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Safety engineers call them the "Goldilocks of air bags." They are the new front air bags in the 2006 Ford Explorer SUV, outfitted with such features as adaptive tethers and vents.

"They customize the fit for the seat occupant -- not too much, not too little, but just right," explained Stephen Kozak, Ford's safety chief engineer for North America. "Ten years ago, one bag fit all and they were generally designed for males who were about 5'10" and weighed about 165 pounds. That's not good for a 105-pound female."

Kozak says the new multistage air bags are a first for Ford.

The safety system on the redesigned Explorer is advanced enough, too, to tell whether the front seat is empty, whether it contains a child seat or a small adult, medium-sized adult or large adult. Previously, the Explorer's safety system could only distinguish between a child and an adult.

When the system is so finely tuned, it lessens the chance of injury from an air bag that deploys during a crash because it tailors the deployment to your body size.

Ford has also improved the optional side canopy air bag system on Explorer.

The company has added a safety net to the air bag, much like NASCAR uses to protect its drivers. The net doesn't have a cushioning effect, but it covers a small area near the side mirrors, and keeps arms or legs from flopping outside of the vehicle in a rollover crash, a dangerous situation that can pull belted occupants out of their seats.

The newer canopy bag is also deeper and extends below the beltline.

Kozak said, in the future, expect your seat belt to send you signals about potentially dangerous situations by tugging with a greater sense of urgency the closer you get to a crash. He said this approach is appealing to engineers because seat-belt use is up to 85 percent. In addition, the "nagging" seat belt is intuitive.

"It's not like an audible signal that makes you ask, 'What ding is that?'" he said. "If I tug on your belt, it's intuitive that it's safety-related."

You can reach Anita Lienert at Conseye@aol.com.