12.11.2009
High tech comes as standard
Modern motor vehicles are high-tech affairs with levels of performance, reliability and safety undreamed of just 25 years ago.
They have become so reliable and safe, together with a driving experience of stunning quality in most instances, that we have all forgotten or simply chose to ignore what goes into a modern car to ensure it delivers what we now all expect as "standard". Malcolm Tagg, the Director General of the VBRA, the UK's leading Trade Association for Vehicle Body Building, CV, Car Body and SMART repair, raised this during an interview recently. He noted: "Examples of this high-tech abound, but let's just take one to demonstrate some of the fantastic engineering that surrounds us each time we get into our cars and turn the ignition key. Right there in the middle of the steering wheel are the words "Air Bag", devices now commonplace but non-existent not so long ago. Now universally accepted as "standard-fittings" the entire airbag system is too complicated to evaluate here so instead let's just look at one tiny but essential part, the filter that goes between the air-bag and the explosive device that operates it. This little beasty plays a crucial role in the operation of the air-bag when it is activated. In simplest terms it prevents the wall of flame and (very) hot gases from the exploding sodium azide and potassium nitrate which inflate the bag from coming straight out of the device and burning a large hole in the person sitting behind the wheel. Bearing this in mind it's obviously crucial that it works perfectly every time, and we can all be thankful that it does, all in one twenty-fifth of a second."
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