Publications [#268065] of Henry Petroski

Papers Published

1. Petroski, H, Backseat designers, American Scientist, vol. 100 no. 3 (January, 2012), pp. 192-196, Sigma Xi, ISSN 0003-0996 [Gateway.cgi], [doi]
   (last updated on 2023/06/01)

   Abstract:
   China and India were recapitulating, in a way, developments that occurred during the previous century in America and Britain. With the prosperity of the postwar period and the inception of the interstate highway system, increasing numbers of cars were being driven on America's roads. Summoning an overwhelming amount of evidence, he showed how Detroit automakers repeatedly neglected to incorporate voluntarily safety- and injury-mitigating features into their cars, even though the technology to do so was available. Selected safety features, such as seat belts and padded dashboards, were made available on new cars, but as safety options. From an engineering standpoint, when an accident injury occurs, it is a result of the failure of the technological components of the vehicle and the highway to adapt adequately to the driver's capacities and limitations. The heightened awareness of the situation on the nation?s roads led to passage of the 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.