Old Safety Features in Cars & Their Effectiveness

Before the age of air bags, anti-lock brakes and computerized diagnostics, automobiles made do with relatively few safety features. Still, certain systems were developed that made early cars much safer than they would otherwise have been. In other cases, well-intentioned ideas did little to reduce the dangers of driving.

Early Car Dangers

In 1910 the number of American traffic deaths were around 25 times what they are today when adjusted for the number of drivers on the road. The first such death occurred in 1899 when a pedestrian was struck and killed by an electric taxi in New York City. For a public used to other forms of transportation, automobiles were sometimes looked at as dangerous novelties, and these fears had to be managed before cars could be sold on a mass scale.

Fenders

In the 1910s John O'Leary responded directly to the high number of traffic deaths by inventing a device known as the O'Leary Fender. Built from a wire mesh rather than rigid metal, the O'Leary Fender would flex when it contacted a pedestrian, sparing them injury. Despite working in theory, the O'Leary Fender fared poorly in real-world use and was never widely adopted.

Bumpers

One of the earliest car safety devices that did work well was the automobile bumper. By simply affixing a flexible metal bumper, a car and its occupants could be spared the full extent of the force generated in a collision. This kept cars safe in minor accidents and protected riders in more severe situations. Today's federally mandated crumple zones and impact-absorbing bumpers are direct descendants of this early success story.

Safety Glass

Safety glass, which is coated with a plastic substance to prevent it from shattering even when it breaks, was invented in the early 1900s. Once it went into widespread use on cars in the 1920s, safety glass became a major form of auto safety equipment. Many cars were retrofitted with the new glass and eventually the U.S. Department of Transportation began certifying glass as approved for use in automobiles.

Other Safety Equipment

As early as 1913, Ford's Model T was available with a safety tool kit. The kit contained a rod for measuring the fuel level, as well as a jack and tire repair kit. Other forms of early car safety equipment were effective in the few cases where they were actually used. The first turn signal, which included a stop light, was patented in 1929. This was much more effective than the reflectors that had been used earlier to make cars more visible at night. However, turn signals didn't begin appearing on most cars until the late 1930s.

References

• The History of Car Safety
• Early Car History Until 1840
• America on the Move

Resources

• Car Safety Guide