THEN AND NOW
SAFETY ON YOUR TRIPS
HOW CRASH TESTS USED TO BE CONDUCTED IN THE PAST AND TODAY
T
he traditions of safe‑
ty tests can be traced
back to the 1960 s.
One of the pioneering in‑
stitutions was the Author‑
ity for Motor Vehicle Re‑
search, which designed its
own methods of testing and
regulations since its estab‑
lishment in 1952, overseeing
the integration of internation‑
al safety regulations into the
Czech legal framework. Its
employees were among the
few who could travel to the
West and participate in draw‑
ing up the regulations of the
former Economic Commis‑
sion for Europe. In 1972, the
institution was assigned the
status of internationally rec‑
ognised accredited test lab.
1968. It featured the ŠKODA
1000 MB crashing into a sol‑
id wall at 20 km/h. The car
was using only its own pro‑
pulsion, with the fixed gas
pedal gradually reaching the
desired speed. One of the
team members put on quite
a show as he was running
along the accelerating car,
holding the steering wheel
until the very last moment
from the outside. „The old
‑timers say that the test at‑
tracted a lot of attention of
the Technical Development
employees, but apart from
this information, no oth‑
er evidence has been pre‑
served“, says Rudolf Tesárek
from EKS – Car Safety.
Steam rocket
Embéčko the pioneer
Before dynamic tests were
introduced, cars used to
be tested by pressing or
squeezing car bodies. The
very first crash test was con‑
ducted in Česana’s Tech‑
nical Development area in
However, true crash tests
were launched only four
years later in the former
Czechoslovakia. In order for
the ŠKODA 100 to be per‑
mitted export to France, the
model had to comply with
the EHK12 regulation. The
test required that the entire
width of the car crash into
a non‑deformable barrier at
48 km/h. „The steering link‑
age had to move into the in‑
terior within a specified time
frame“, adds Tesárek.
Based on a design pre‑
sented to the experts from
the Czechoslovak Author‑
ity for Motor Vehicle Re‑
search at Berlin University,
a unique car acceleration fa‑
cility was constructed in the
1970 s. In 1972, it became
part of the first homologation
crash test of the ŠKODA 100,
which took place on the Ru‑
zyně Airport test track under
the supervision of the French
UTAC Institute. The open‑air
Ruzyně lab was the only one
in the former Eastern bloc,
and so cars of other brands
from the former Soviet Un‑
ion, Poland, Yugoslavia and
the German Democratic Re‑
public would be tested here
as well. In 1975, the Authori‑
ty for Motor Vehicle Research
launched another safety lab
The Úhelnice test track
is now integrated into
the ŠKODA AUTO
structure as EKS/5
and currently has 15
internal employees.
in Letňany, Prague. Both fa‑
cilities were replaced by the
Úhelnice test track, intention‑
ally situated close to ŠKODA
AUTO, 20 years later.
Present day
The boom of crash tests
came in 2000 during the
development of the first
‑generation FABIA in com‑
pliance with the new Euro
NCAP methodology. Elev‑
en years later, Úhelnice is
u s e d by Š KO DA AU TO,
which started running inde‑
pendent car tests. Around
150 tests, far different from
those initial ones, are con‑
d u c te d h e re eve r y ye a r.
They focus mainly on the
crew, and so human‑body
‑shaped dummies are used,
as well as digital speed cam‑
eras, which, apart from vid‑
eo recording, also make it
possible to measure t he
movement of individual co‑
ordinates during the crash
test. Today the tests moni‑
tor around 400 channels on
the car alone, including the
dummies and an addition‑
al 200 channels on the run
‑up wall that the car crash‑
es into. The most frequently
measured quantity is accel‑
eration, but other physical
quantities are also moni‑
tored, such as the manner of
deformation and shifts with‑
in the car or on the dummy,
among others.
This year, the ŠKODA
AUTO lab is undergoing ex‑
tensive reconstruction and
expansion in preparation for
changes in the area of car
safety that the carmaker will
accept from 2020 going for‑
ward. Together with more
stringent requirements on
the current test lab, the com‑
pany needs to get ready for
a new type of test: mutual
impact of a car and a mobile
barrier while both are going
at 50 km/h. The construc‑
tion will include an isolat‑
ed section intended for work
on an EV following a test.
EVA JAROŠOVÁ
AUGUST 2018 ŠKODA MOBIL 9