The last heavily
moralistic web-log message of war remembrance deliberately utilised
the initials of AAAM (An Alternative Armistice Message). Since
mentioned here, done so not by chance, given the initials of an
organisation called AAAM : the Association for the Advancement of
Automotive Medicine.
The fatally injured and
life-long injured of war 'stand' (yet often sit) as both social
reminders of events, yet also as modern-day social heroes; precisely
because of the socialised 'fight the good fight' origins of their
carried injuries.
Yet those killed or
seriously injured as the result of a road accident are not similarly
regarded by society; they all too often appear in the public
consciousness as merely 'statistics' or as 'unfortunates'.
Perhaps the only
exemption being a psuedo-hero status of the motorcycle rider, whether
or not reflective of their own circumstances and reality, regarded as
daring rebels of the road and so with some caché
given the overtones of the Isle of Man TT.
(This year the name Dan
Kneen added to the list of 260 lost road warriors since 1907)
Whether from war or
road accident, those devastatingly injured require re-rehabilitation,
itself different degrees of both physical and mental. The most robust
individuals appear to 'come through'; though always mentally altered
to some extent; even if a constant brave face endures.
Physical injuries
sustained both then and now, range across a wide spectrum: from loss
of limbs to facial reconstruction, organ transplants, bone
reconstruction with mechanical fixings, to tissue and skin grafting.
Whilst the mental
ranges from truly life altering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and
subsequent mental collapse, to in mid-stages the desire for revenge
upon the enemy or the world at large for what has been endured. This
stemming from the desire to emotionally transfer the depth of
personal suffering to others, to gain an almost impossible shared
experience and understanding that results from such deep suffering.
Within the military,
even with complex training regimes, once separated from the military
environment, the typical soldier cannot easily come to terms with the
impacted reality of heavy warfare and its effect upon (typically)
himself. For all the support and mutual bonding of fellow soldiers
life is irrevocably different; especially when returned to 'Civvy
Street'.
Whilst in civilian
society at itself, there may be an equal (or infact even greater)
argument to state that victims of severe road traffic accidents –
who themselves are physically and mentally changed as a result –
have a greater nightmare to live through. As a notionally normal,
typically comfortable life – expanded by the freedom provided by
vehicles - alters into what at worst feels to be utter physical
dependency on others.
For all its profound
improvements to life throughout the 20th century, the car
in the 21st century has become increasingly demonised in
society; primarily because of emissions pollution and grid-lock and
obviously as carriers of death and destruction when portrayed in the
worst light.
Thanks to across the
board improvements in road-planning, driver training, vehicle design
and road-traffic accident medical response and hospital capabilities,
the experience of Developed Nations has been the ability to off-set
the explosion of 20th century vehicle use with a general
trending decrease in the numbers of killed and seriously injured.
The accompanying graph
is extracted straight from Wikipedia and illustrates the UK
trend-line of those killed between 1926 and 2016.
By 1926 Britain had
become a much mechanised society, the internal combustion engine
changing the face of not just urban and rural roads but the broader
countryside. Though by then dominant, ICE powered vehicles, from
motorcycle to the small 3-wheeler Runabout to the AEC truck or bus,
were simply another layer of road transport complexity; ontop of well
established steam-driven giants, electric trams, the remnants of the
horse-drawn and of course the plethora of bicycles. By the 1920s
shared roadways were essentially semi-controlled chaos and thus
unsurprisingly the statistics of 4,886 deaths conveys such.
That figure rose
dramatically over the next 15 years, largely as the result of the
rise of vehicle ownership. All too ironically, though many private
cars had to be de-commissioned through the War, the death toll peaked
in in 1941 at 9,169, because of pedestrians', cyclists' and drivers'
inability to see each other consequential from the 'black-out'
requirements specified upon motor vehicles; so as not to be seen by
enemy bombers in the skies.
[NB In Europe, the use
of the wartime 'letter-box' lamp-covers led to the vehicle
manufacturers' adoption of low intensity “side-lights” after the
war, which became standard use for many right up until the late
1970s; and avoiding the irritating glare (and light pollution) that
has become so common today]
Death figures plunged
between 1941 and 1950 to 5,000. People had became both used to
heavier traffic conditions and had become more road aware. Whilst the
re-popularisation of the private car on still antiquated road
networks, led to road-network over-load, and the effective
slowing-down of average speeds.
That trend would
unfortunately reverse between 1950 and 1966 as car ownership expanded
seemingly almost exponentially in the boom years and the young took
to the road on 2, 3 and 4 motorised wheels. A mix of new roads (from
dual carriage ways to By-Passes), increased vehicle speed
capabilities, the glamorisation of speed (via personalities from
Donald Campbell's 'Bluebird' to Marlon Brando's Triumph Thunderbird to
Stirling Moss's Mercedes SLR to Audrey Hepburn's 'Pagoda' SL in 'Two
for the Road' ) relayed an almost socialised need for a generation of
young men, and some women, to prove themselves aswell as the
inevitable rise of less obviously blame-worthy accidents. So for all
the careful safety orientated new road-planning, a mix of
testosterone on public road 'race-tracks', the inevitability of the
much increased national 'car parc', and cars designed for production
volumes and performance at a price – and not safety - meant a steep
climb in death over those 2 decades.
However, that
trend-line declined again – consistently so - between 1966 and
1998. It was obvious that even with still expanding car ownership and
usage, the enormous focus upon safety - from many quarters - was having a very positive effect upon statistical improvement. From the professionalisation of
driver-training, to the adoption of 'cats eyes' and 'deformable
barriers', the increased demands of MOTs, advancement of
vehicle body crumple-zones, the legal necessity of seat belt use , introduction of the breathalyser and that of speed-cameras, and ever
more passive and reactive vehicle technologies: from anti-roll bars
(in suspension geometry) to the gradual adoption of anti-skid ABS (in
brake callipers) to interior fitment 'air-bags'.
It all meant the devils of injury and death were being better contained by society. By 1998, about 3,400 people had been killed that year.
It all meant the devils of injury and death were being better contained by society. By 1998, about 3,400 people had been killed that year.
The trend flat-lined
between 1998 – 2004, as the result of a balance of increased miles
driven in an economic boom period of high vehicle sales, with the
potential greater number crashes off-set by the broadened application
of better technologies in newer vehicles.
2004 – 2010 saw
another marked decrease in deaths, from 3,400 to 2,000. This
partially the result of continued new road-planning regimes enabled
by bloated local government debt (such as policy-slowed
urban rat-runs for children). And the more rapid update (ie newness)
of the UK 'car parc' given the widespread application of all-inclusive 3 year lease-contracts on new cars; which itself
provided for an increase in the pace of installed safety technologies
as standard expectations in even small cars. This process itself
sped-up thanks to the recognition and popularity of the Euro NCAP vehicle
rating system; which became central to manufacturers' marketing.
And 2010 – 2016 saw
another flat-line, this flattered by the result of both fewer miles
driven (over the long recession period) and the real-world affect of
high-content, standard-fit, safety tech across virtually the whole of
the UK's modern vehicles.
That then is broadly
the UK's story, which - with specific locational exceptions – is
also largely applicable to Europe and the USA. In effect the
Developed Countries' story.
But what of the EM
regions?
Thankfully because of
greater global economic and so consumer alignment – 'the global
convergence' – today both AM and EM regions new cars come far
better equipped (though to varying degrees with primary (ie accident
avoidance) and secondary (accident reactive) safety systems.
But inevitably even new
cars have different specifications dependant upon specific in-market
characteristics that encompasses much : from price/cost to culture to
regulatory demands; so as to provide for affordability, the
manufacturer's profit margin and thus toward an expanding vehicle
market to aid travel, communication, infrastructure investment and so
private and public generated national economic expansion.
Yet many lower order EM
countries in Asia, the CIS states, Africa and South America, because
of less stable economies will often have a large 'grey-market' import
basis in their good years. Which inevitably deploys a span of more
aged vehicles of varying condition that range from the near new and
well-maintained, to generally run-down to virtual death traps.
The best governments
instil the lessons learned from the West regards rationalised and
safety enhanced road planning, though usually in a very fundamental,
basic manner per traffic management and flow. Yet still natives will
philosophically and physically by-pass what they see as their
contained new freedom on 2, 3, 4 or more wheels.
To any rational and
globally aware person the road transport sights of much of the 2nd
and 3rd world is both highly theatrical, absorbing and yet
also deeply concerning.
Hence whilst the BRICs
and CIVETS countries have been seen to slowly improve road
infrastructure planning and creation to cope with the increase in
vehicle numbers, as seen from the Youtube uploads of in-car cameras,
there is still a massive disparity in road-use habits and culture
across drivers, riders and pedestrians between EM and DM countries.
As the vehicles
themselves become ever more 'safe', the very mentality of road users
must likewise be improved dramatically – done so via public
information films and the law - to avoid the high number of deaths
caused by testosterone-fuelled and ego-fuelled drivers of all ages
given the EM's greater proclivity of social stratification (ie
'status'), itself closely related to competitive ego (in men and
women).
Developed countries and
their governments – even today with stagnant and declining 'car
parcs' of their own - will continue to seek to ensure a decline in
the social and personal impact of road traffic accidents; especially
so with the social push toward cycling and walking, so exposing more
people to possibilities of road traffic accidents.
[NB given a strong
focus on the need to better categorise road accident statistics, and
the emergence of a large fraudulent road accident claim culture
amongst petty criminals, the old term RTA has been expanded to
include RTI: road traffic incident].
And what of the future?
For the past decade the
concept of totally automated vehicle mobility has been a central
theme of technology and broad media; deliberately
broadcast so as to push the advancement of such technologies and
their social acceptance.
As many have come to
know, the accepted SAE definitions of automated driving spans across
5 levels : from basic assistance (such as predictive braking) at
Level One, through to Level Five of complete automation (ie
collection and delivery of the passenger without any driver
interaction of vehicle propulsion and steering systems). Levels 3 and
4 are rightly contentious (requiring the irrational paradox of driver
awareness whilst relaxing or otherwise engaged, without vehicle
control, so as to intercede per a possible accident – a ridiculous
'no-man's land' and 'danger-space' in the real world).
At a truly achievable
Level 5, the concept eventually leads to the notional concept of the
physically and mentally all encompassing 'Cocoon'. Wherein a totally
safety orientated vehicle and safety shell and interior provides for
n insular environment in which to relax, sleep, entertain or work. It
means the automated travelling adult becomes euphemistically
'cotton-wool wrapped' to become absorbed in their own mental-space,
as s/he is transported
But any such possible
outcome, beyond testing 'pilot' sites, is still many years away given
the technology, infrastructure, policy and social acceptance
complications of such a dreamt utopian 'sci-fi' vision
In the meantime,
governments around the world must seek to protect their citizens from
their own and others' road-going stupidity and carelessness.
And vitally, seek to
improve the lives of those physically and mentally affected by the
life-changing consequences of road traffic accidents.
One major platform
within the socio-economic promotion of the recent past has been
renewed fascination and resurgence of the 'Life Sciences'; now
recognised as a high potential growth arena, devolved from Sports
Sciences and increasingly directed toward e-tech consumer culture.
The rapid rise from the
analogue ratchet-counted 'step-o-metre' to the iPhone enabled
bio-diagnostic App has been astounding. The market for shaping
consumer consciousness and providing solutions to that new awareness
has grown enormously; as seen by the myriad of Start-Up, Venture
Capital and Large Cap Company investments in this field.
There are profits to be
made that satiates the health concerns of an increasingly
phsyio-educated and so health conscious public – even if the real
level of true medical education as opposed to 'medicised marketing'
be relatively scant.
This emergent
'medi-tech' backdrop has its positive ripples spanning beyond the
health anxieties of the average person.
It puts renewed focus
upon the broader societal concerns regards public health.
That concern though has
wavered over the decades and centuries.
Migrating from the
auditorium dissection tables of the 18th century, and the
dis-proving of 'miasma theory' regards spread infection, to in the
late 19th century the likes of Florence Nightingale, John
Snow and Charles Booth and their vital use of statistics as
geographically wide apart as both the theatre of war in The Crimea and
London's Theatre-land and surrounding districts so as to track and
locate the origins of disease, its causes, and the environmental specifics.
In the 19th
century, it moved into the formalised laboratory using the
advancement of biology and chemistry with researchers such as
Pasteur, Fleming, and the Curies. Research fields expanded to span a
myriad of disciplines from Biochemistry to Zoology after recognition
of Darwin's truisms about shared origins of species (as well known
by those in distant antiquity given the similarity of skeletal and
organ structures of mammals). But now taken further to encompass the
biological breakdowns of divergent applications. Such as that of Keratin, spanning from the fragility of human finger-nails to toughness of rhino horns, to the massive spectrum of various animals' electrically governed bio-chemical nervous system, from human heart
beats to the high voltage electric eel.
In the 20th
century the names of famous transplant surgeons such
as Barnard, or the ground-breaking research of Crick, Watson and
Wilkins per the unravelling of DNA, became public debate.
And in the 21st
century, the renewed focus on external and internal applications of
bio-mechanics, ranging from improved vascular blood-flow valves to
limb replacement prosthetics; together with a broadened approach to
materials sciences and unrejected metals, plastics and composites.
That has opened up a
new world of 'grown bio-materials' which can be sourced from Stem
cells and formed around specific and cell-recognisable 'scaffolds'
into known and yet discovered body replacement parts, ranging from
ball-and -socket joints to possibly wholly grown organs.
Bio-engineering
reflecting the advancements made in molecular engineering by the
likes of Rolls-Royce Aero and its singular crystalline fan blade. If
aeronautical parts can be grown in a lab, on this basis, why might
not 'scaffold theory' work for at least some physiological
replacement items? Though perhaps not all.
However, beyond the
'amazing science' stories, less publicised are the efforts of
researchers in the specific research field of vehicle accident
analysis.
Whilst after WW2,
Britain and America had been testing the human limits regards
aeronautical and space travel (specifically the effect of high 'G'
applications) with test pioneers such as Beeding and Stapp, and the
US Auto industry had long undertaken roll-over and cliff-drop tests
to check body strength, in the USA, the realm of disciplined
automotive crash research did not start until the mid 1950s using
cadavers, animals and some live volunteers. Those methods soon
replaced by anthropometrically devised 'crash-test dummies'.
These spanning a wide
evolution from the initial 'Sierra Sam' to the latest Hybrid III and
THOR model variations for different age ranges.
In Britain, such
human-centric research work did not commence until 1968.
That year the research
work of MIRA (the Motor Industry Research Association) was expanded
under government edict to include vehicle crash outcomes on not only
the vehicle structure, but also for the “human component” (ie the
effect on adults, later children and eventually including babies).
The initial efforts
regards 'head-on' crash tests were later followed by 'rear impact', 'partial
off-set' test and later side-impact tests; akin to the USA.
Gradually, the learning
from such testing started to become ever better structured, designed
and complex. Feedback to the packaging engineers, structural
engineers, interior engineers, trim and hardware engineers and
electrical engineers providing a positive feedback loop to vehicle
manufacturers for each successive new generation platform and model
type.
But what of humans
themselves?
Quite obviously, the
'live guinea-pig' efforts of Beeding and Stapp could not be morally
replicated even by a willing participant. Thus, as seen, the
technical sophistication of Crash-Test Dummies gradually increased to
better reflect the 50th (and other) percentiles groups of
Euro-centric humans at different age ranges (per height, body-type
and mass). Leading to the Hybrid III 'model family'.
[NB since 2015 the
auto-centric Hybrid III has itself influenced the evolution of
'WIAMan' (the Warrior Injury Assessment Mannequin), as created by the
US Army, to replicate direct blast effects upon various vehicle
'hull' designs (flat-bottomed and sacrificial to V-hull)
Within the automotive
realm, these ATD's (anthropometric test devices) now sit under global
regulations for specification, but their evolutional path was
arguably slow, given the schism between complexity and costs of
testing for participant manufacturers, and the fact that for years
they sought the issue of vehicle crash was best avoided so as not to
spoil the automotive fantasy dream-scape that had been moulded into
the minds of buyers through TV and showrooms.
Hence it was not until
the mid 1990s – and the fear-effect of SUV roll-over stories and
that of the original Smart Car and Mercedes A-Class – did the
public become directly concerned and influenced by the issue of
safety testing and performance ratings.
But, as seen with
THOR's development progress, much depends upon the health of the
auto-industry itself to pay for and progress new advances in crash
testing itself. With economic recessions comes the typical hiatus in
testing development, and also inevitably the closure of the
specialist firm manufacturing the 'dummies'. And so today, as the
result of this niche sector's previous bankruptcies and acquisitions,
Humanetics and DentonATD are the providers of THOR
Given that real-world
crash-testing is so expensive (inevitably priced within a new
platform programme) and research laboratories wish to expand their
own services, both manufacturers and crash-research labs have long
explored the usefulness and limitations of Computer Aided Testing.
To this end, Britain's
MIRA bought Creative Automotive Design Consultancy in 2003, two years
after having been formally structured as a limited company; though
actually seeking a non-profit basis so as to recycle fees back into
the business over the next decade.
Yet this only one side
of the Accident Research story; the precursive element that seeks to
avoid and reduce road crash consequences.
There is obviously the
counterpoint...
The world of anatomical
/ phsysiological, that deals with the very humanistic side, and so
the medical research realm.
And within this are
both a limited number of Medical Research bodies, and dedicated
specialist equipment and instruments required within that field.
With this appreciation
and vision of how to advance beyond the research and service
limitations of 3-D CAD testing, it was the strategic imperative of
Japanese firm HORIBA to purchase MIRA three years ago; to coalesce
the Test and Modelling regimes with greater directly human-centric
medical research, analysis and discipline advancement.
HORIBA designs and
manufactures a wide range of research items related to Automotive
Research and Development, Process Monitoring, Environmental
Monitoring, In-Vitro Medical Diagnostics, Metrology, Semi-Conductor
Manufacturing and and various Quality Control instruments.
Obviously it saw MIRA
as a high value, very niche, 'bolt-on' asset to expand its spectrum
of core business streams. And believes that a highly synergistic
in-house economic eco-system can be both strengthened and expanded.
Beyond this, we enter
the realm of true Anatomical and Biological Research.
This is the realm of
AAAM : the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine.
It was established to
act as the research hub for true medical professionals (not the
pseudo-kinds abound today in broad society) to gain better insights
into the medical perspective of the wide spectrum of vehicle related
issues; from cognitive abilities of drivers in various stress
inducing situations, to the need for global standards regards
recognition and identification of transport related injuries.
That latter topic has
been the central focus for a decade, through to the now increasingly
recognised AIS (Abbreviated Injury Scale) and ISS (Injury Severity
Score).
As its website
states...”the AIS provides standardized terminology to describe the
injuries and ranks injuries by severity. Current AIS users include:
health organisations for clinical trauma management, outcome
evaluation....motor vehicle crash investigators, and researchers for
epidemiological studies and systems development”.
Epidemiology is the
research base that seeks to gain insights into fundamental patterns
of public health. It's prime concerns being sound methodology, sound
basis of data collection and sound formulation of resulting
hypothesis. As such, analysis and conclusions are typically
statistically communicated and so the discipline itself represents
the latest evolutionary path first trodden by the likes of Florence
Nightingale, John Snow and Charles Booth.
Just as a motor vehicle
is a multi-systems based machine, so through the eyes of a physician
is the human body. From the electro-chemical impulses that govern the
nervous system, to the reaction processes within each sphere of the
brain, to lung and heart capacities, to bone density, to muscle
strength, and so much more.
So although hardly
appreciated, human beings in their most basic interpretation are
sentient organic machines. And it has been this very perspective of
'bio-system-engineering' that has allowed for the research and
advances made by humankind; from Leonardo da Vinci's secretive
anatomical dissections frowned upon by the church for its
Enlightenment learning, to the latest efforts to match non-rejection
materials with bone, tissue and organs.
But this is about as
far as the broad systems comparison may go; the philosophical
perspective.
Since for all the
manufacturers' efforts to imbue more humanistic qualities (such as
digital-PA voices, soft-touch buttons and cushioned interiors, the
inorganic and computer-enabled vehicle is still the polar opposite of
the organic and highly sentient human being.
The old phrase “oil /
petrol in the blood” is only metaphoric, even if boy and girl
street and track racers believe
themselves to be extensions of their machines; or vice versa.
And given this reality,
as much research and development work should and must continue in the
enormously broad discipline of Transport Crash Research.
From the optimal seat
designs and hi-concept escape methods of aeroplanes, to real-world
wearable technology solutions for bicycle-riders.
Thus, the very notion
of 'Vehicle Medicine' should be accepted and expanded.
So that the Research
Institutions, Vehicle Manufacturers and Tier1 systems designers, can alike devise better Primary and Secondary Safety systems. And
so likewise, the Medical Fraternity, from Ambulance Squad to
Rehabilitation Specialist, can better treat the instances and results
of physical and mental trauma...inevitably abound from higher and
high-speed accidents; that the human body was hardly evolved to withstand.
All inevitably
increasingly monitored by, and reliant upon, the rapidly emergent
discipline of meaningful (not techno-marketing) bio-metrics.
Those who have been
unfortunate enough to have been involved in heavy transport
accidents, whether typically on land (or from the air) are rarely
ever the same person again, even if it appears so.
And whilst the
personality types of true heroes such as 'air-ace' Douglas Barder or
racing driver Billy Monger, might jokingly see the 'upsides' of lost
limbs, such as reduced driver weight and reduced potential for injury
in any possible future crash; all is just dark-humour to cope from
within.
Thankfully for years
through disability driver schemes, the standard car has long been
lightly to heavily modified to enable disabled drivers to take to the
road, and done so without the stigma of the light-blue 3 wheeled
'Disability Carriages', last seen in the early 1980s here in the UK.
And thankfully the very
stigma of disability and disabled driving has long-eroded from the
public consciousness; the largely broader and more sensitive minds of
the public recognising that 'people are just people' in whatever
shape or form. Ironically increasingly seeing the application of
bio-engineering solutions (eg titanium prosthetics and carbon fibre
'blades') upon the human form as imbuieing that person with super-human
'hybrid' status.
And TV programmes like
Channel 4's 'The Last Leg' have done much to create general
acceptance and so normalisation of physical disability; from multiple
amputees to thalidomide affected adults to palsy sufferers and so
much more.
And that is good news.
But road accidents are
no laughing matter, for either the individual or society at large.
Servicing the effects
of the aftermath (and other general disabilities) has created an
economic eco-system of its own; from private rehabilitation centres,
to mobility aids, to car and van modification 'coachbuilders'.
It is an ever expanding
economic sphere that can and should be spread around the world;
especially so to EM countries via governmental inter-trade initiatives.
[NB Let us remember,
that it was in-part, Franklin D Roosevelt's humble offer of his
wheelchair to King Ibn Saud that allowed the US access to the
middle-eastern oil-fields].
But it is highly
unlikely that such disability entrepreneurs are 'laughing all the way
to the bank'; since many have experienced the heartache personally
and so been drawn into the commercialised service of the lesser able.
But as the EM regions
and world continues to take to 2, 3, 4 and more wheels in their own
search of freedom and status aspiration; so the breadth of Healthcare
and the Bio-Sciences connected to the automotive world will multiply.
Hopefully so in a
direct proportion of a reduction in worldwide vehicle accident rates
and consequentially shattered lives.
Let the dire lived
realities of those who are remembered in the previous 'An Alternative
Armistice Message' inform and
improve the lives of those today who find themselves physically and
mentally altered by (on a travel-distance logged basis) the increasingly rare
major transport accident.
The vital realms sit between (wo)man and machine.....vehicle crash-testing and physiological / psychological human-repair.
