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Automobile safety is the avoidance of automobile accidents or the minimization of harmful effects of accidents, in particular as pertaining to human life and health. more...

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Special safety features have been built into cars for years, some for the safety of car's occupants only, some for the safety of others.

Road traffic injuries represent about 25% of worldwide injury-related deaths (the leading cause) with an estimated 1.2 million deaths (2004) each year - World Health Organization ).

Major factors in accidents include driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs; inattentive driving; crash compatibility between vehicles; driving while fatigued or unconscious; encounters with road hazards such as snow, potholes, and crossing animals; or reckless driving.

History

Car safety became an issue almost immediately after the invention of the automobile, when Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot crashed his steam-powered "Fardier" against a wall in 1771. One of the earliest recorded automobile fatalities was Mary Ward, on August 31, 1869 in Parsonstown, Ireland.

In the 1940s SAAB incorporated aircraft safety thinking into automobiles making the Saab 92 the first production car first with a safety cage.

In the 1950´s, Mercedes-Benz made the first crash tests .

In 1958, the United Nations established the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, an international standards body advancing auto safety. Many of the most life saving safety innovations, like seat belts and roll cage construction were brought to market under its auspices.

In 1966, the US established the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) with automobile safety one of its purposes. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was created as an independent organization on April 1, 1967, but was reliant on the DOT for administration and funding. However, in 1975 the organization was made completely independent by the Independent Safety Board Act.

The NTSB and its European equivalent, EuroNCAP have each issued independent safety tests for all new automobiles, without reciprocity.

In June, 2004 the NTSB released new tests designed to test the rollover risk of new cars and SUVs. Only the Mazda RX-8 got a 5-star rating. However, the correlation between official crash test results and road deaths in vehicles is not exact. An alternative method of assessing vehicle safety is to study the road accident statistics on a model-by-model basis.

Despite technological advances, the death toll of car accidents remains high: about 40,000 people die every year in the US. While this number increases annually in line with rising population and increased travel, the rate per capita and per vehicle miles travelled decreases. In 1996 the US had about 2 deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles, comparable to 1.9 in Germany, 2.6 in France, and 1.5 in the UK . In 1998 there were 3,421 fatal accidents in the UK, the fewest since 1926 .

Read more at Wikipedia.org