ZF presents external side airbag

ZF Friedrichshafen has presented the world’s first pre-crash external side airbag system, which reduces occupant injury severity up to 40% for side impact collisions.

The external airbag (see photo) is deployed milliseconds before a collision to provide an additional crumple zone which can help save lives and reduce occupant injuryseverity. To make this possible, ZF has networked the airbags to the vehicle’s sensor systems and developed algorithms that are capable of determining if a crash is imminent and decide whether or not to deploy the airbag.

In a side impact collision, the occupants on the side of the impact are at particular risk of serious injuries in the chest area if the passenger cabin is severely deformed. The ZF pre-crash safety system can reduce the penetration of the intruding vehicle by up to 30%, helping to significantly reduce the occupants’ risk of injury.

The predictive information about an unavoidable collision also helps to further improve the effectiveness of established standard safety technology. For example, the ACR8 Active Control Retractor can warn the occupants or help secure them in a safe position in the critical fractions of a second before the collision.

This new external side airbag is still in development phase.