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