Crash safety scholarship for Saab engineer

Posted on 21. May, 2001 by Ryan in 2000-2009

2001-05-21

Crash safety scholarship for Saab engineer

Kristina Wiklund, safety engineer at Saab Automobile, has been awarded this year?s scholarship by the Prince Bertil KAK (Royal Automobile Club) fund. She received the award for her work on the development of the Saab Active Head Restraint (SAHR).

Kristina Wiklund has in-depth experience of work on and follow-up of accident investigations within the framework of what is now known as Saab Real Life Safety. In the early 1990s, she was involved in starting the intensified work on preventing neck injuries to the occupants of cars involved in accidents. This led to the introduction of the SAHR in the summer of 1997. The inter-disciplinary work was pursued in cooperation with researchers from universities, hospitals and insurance companies in Sweden and abroad.

?This was a new way of working that opened up new opportunities. We worked hard and intensively on endeavouring to get the car occupants to retain their normal body posture when the car they were travelling in was involved in a rear-end collision. We wanted to prevent the occupants from suffering what is known as relative movements. This was the fundamental problem that needed solving and was part of the objective of the work,? says Kristina Wiklund.

The jury justified its decision as follows: ?The award is an acknowledgement by KAK of your exceptional work in the field of road safety, particularly as regards crash safety.?

The Saab Active Head Restraint (SAHR) was launched in 1997 on the Saab 9-5 and is now a standard item of equipment on all Saab models. The SAHR system has been developed in order to reduce the risks of whiplash injuries by restricting the movements of the occupant?s head when the car is involved in a rear-end collision. The head restraint is connected by a linkage to a pressure plate in the backrest.

On an impact from the rear, the car is thrown forward and the occupant is pressed into the seat backrest, thus forcing the pressure plate in the backrest towards the rear. The linkage causes the head restraint to move upwards and forward towards the occupant?s head to arrest its backward movement before the harmful whiplash motion has had time to begin.

To achieve uniform loading on the whole of the occupant?s back, the seat is designed to spread and distribute the collision forces over the largest possible area of the backrest.

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