The question is often asked: What is the leading cause of death in an automobile? The answer in its most rudimentary response is simple: crashing. The leading cause of death is simply being involved in an accident. If we eliminate crashing, we virtually eliminate car related deaths. Such a statement is rather elementary, and yet substantially more time has been spent trying to counteract the result of a crash than trying to eliminate the crash all together.
Compare the history of flight to that of the automobile in terms of technology progression in an effort to improve safety. Throughout the short history of the airplane, the goal to prevent deaths was not to make crashing safer, but to improve technology in order to avoid crashing. In 1903 the Wright Brothers flew their Wright Flyer for the first documented flight in history. It thus began the race to create airplanes that could do more than float the short 12 seconds of flight that Orville took on that December day, and soon sights were set on trans-Atlantic and “around the world” flights. 1927 saw another monumental day for flying as the world celebrated Charles Lindbergh’s non-stop flight from New York to Paris, the first flight without stops over the Atlantic. During these early years the airplane was crude and very dangerous. Flying was so dangerous that the deadliest profession was an air mail pilot and the pilots aptly named themselves “The Suicide Club.” During that time the goal for all aircraft was not to survive a crash, it was to avoid a crash.
Of course, there is an inherent difference between planes and cars in terms of crashing; you simply cannot engineer airbags, crumple zones, or seatbelts to make falling from the sky, at any significant altitude, a safe event. The biggest cause of death in the early days of aviation was weather. Even today, flying into a cloud or fog without instrumentation will disorient even the best, most experienced pilots. The other causes of typical aviation crashes were simply lack of training or mechanical failure. Mechanical failures naturally improved as engine design and plane structure improved, and regulations improved making safety a forethought; however, weather continued to pose massive problems. At the time there were no instruments to gauge altitude above ground, plane orientation, or plane location, thus leading to tragic accidents. There was a massive push to rectify these problems and drastically improve safety.
Not only did those in the aviation industry work to solve the problem and find solutions, but also those within other industries. The military (Army and Navy both had Air Corps, as the Air Force had yet to be founded), aircraft manufactures, engine manufactures, and pilots themselves all collaborated to find solutions. Watch makers aided the new instrument companies with their ability to work with small precise equipment. Lastly, hotels, oil companies, and many other wealthy businesses and individuals put up significant funds to promote the advancement of technology. In 1929, just 26 years after the first flight, Jimmy Doolittle successfully completed a flight using instruments alone to guide him from takeoff to landing underneath a cloak completely blind to the outside. The instruments were crude, but they proved their effectiveness in aiding a pilot and making a flight significantly safer.
The Great Depression of the 1930s saw a pause in advancement, but World War II saw aircraft take on a new role and become essential to the war effort. The war continued the frenzy rate of advancement to the aircraft and in the 1950’s there was suddenly a drastic rise in commercial air travel. While air travel gained popularity between the 50s and 70s, it was still far from safe. Pilot error accounted for the majority of crashes, and while flying was dramatically safer than prior to WWII, it still was precarious to fly. Automation entered the game and really began to evolve and take effect during this time. Autopilots had existed in the early years to keep the planes flying level; however, taking off, landing, and navigating where all done manually. During the mid-70s into the 80s the amount of automation increased thus decreasing the number crashes caused by pilot error. Fast forward to the modern era and we have seen incredible advancements in regards to safety. In 2017 it was estimated 37 million flights occurred, and only 10 accidents (most while taxiing) resulting in a small total of only 44 deaths worldwide. In 2018, Boeing had issues with the 737 Max. This caused a spike of over 500 deaths, but in regards to the massive number of flights that took place, the death toll remained at an incredibly low percentage. Even with the sudden spike in 2018 air travel was and is the safest form of traveling.
How is it that the most difficult form of travel is the least dangerous? In air travel you must control all three dimensions, and any crash means almost certain death. The fact is, everyone in the aircraft industry responds to the risk of crashing by aiming to prevent it rather than to negate its effect. The auto industry does the opposite by continuing to attempt to negate the effect of a crash rather than avoid one. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; the automobile is substantially safer today than ever before, technology has advanced dramatically, and the number of deaths has been on a steady decline. However, the most survivable crash is still the one that simply doesn’t happen. In the US alone more than 100 deaths occur every day, and globally that number is in the thousands. This doesn’t include the thousands upon thousands more that are injured and have their lives disrupted with a crash.
Cars today are beginning to be equipped with measures to avoid an accident altogether. We are seeing a rise in use of instruments to assist drivers, such as automatic emergency braking, lane departure warnings, blind spot monitors, and some level of autonomy. There of course is now the problem of implementing the technology, using it, and repairing it. My wife and I were purchasing a new car. We went to the dealer and test drove the model that we wanted to and confirmed it met our wants. We then began searching for the exact car we wanted. We wanted a car with all the modern safety features, which of course includes all the driver assistance features. To my amazement, the dealership did not have a single model with the package installed. This shocked me and the salesman said, “We don’t stock them because most of our customers are asking how to turn the features off. The majority simply do not want any aids, and therefore the dealership doesn’t stock cars that have them.” I thought surely this was a local market decision, but searching the internet I struggled to find anything in the region.
Again, to the aircraft industry, pilots in the “Golden Age” of aviation started flying with zero instruments. The mentality by pilots was: they survived and were still flying, so they must be capable of flying without any assistance. Pilots trusted their instinct more than the instruments and continued to crash. Ironically enough, the government managed to put an end to this notion by pure coincidence. The mail delivery was being contracted out to commercial airlines in the 20’s and early 30’s. The contracted pilots were trained in instrumentation and the planes properly equipped. In February of 1934, President Roosevelt suspended all of the contracts and put the air mail delivery service back into government control and planes without instrumentation were back in mail service. Many distinguished pilots (Lindbergh being the most boisterous) spoke out that it was a grave mistake. It was, and after a disastrous month filled with crashes and pilot deaths, President Roosevelt was forced to reverse his decision and new contracts were immediately drawn to return the mail to the commercial airlines. The problem was simply that the military pilots and planes were ill-equipped for bad weather flying which was calamitous to on-time time mail delivery, and the result was a nation-wide push for planes with the most advanced safety aids and instruments available at the time.
What will create the movement to greater number of driving aids and automation acceptance in the car industry? At the present time I do not believe anyone can forecast the answer. Yet, it is hard to refute the need, as accident-related deaths remain a top ten cause of death in the U.S. The push for safety in vehicles is ever present, and the technology to create advancements to assist drivers is there, it just needs momentum to gain acceptance. Once each form of automation is accepted, the next step is creating the systems and as crucially important the ability to service the systems. It’s a chicken before the egg situation. Consumers have to accept in order for them to be installed, systems have to be installed in order for the consumer to accept. Lastly, the systems should be understood and have a buyable way to repair before they are integrated, and yet they have to be installed in order to be understood to be able to be repaired.
Of course, things are not at a standstill. Systems are being produced; although not unanimously accepted, as my wife and I found out, they are being installed and implemented. They are being used by some who see the benefits and they are having a positive effect on the number of crashes, the number of injuries, and the number of deaths. The bottom line is, they are working! The problem is now getting more consumers to want more and for there to be easy and effective repair methods. As history showed with pilots who began to demand instrument improvements and additional support to flying after seeing the benefits. Consumers will do the same with cars, and once that occurs the technology will improve and advanced twice as fast as it is now. Currently automakers appear to be simply trying to one-up each other with these systems and see just what can be done. They aren’t showcased in TV ads, they aren’t used to try and sell cars, and yet they may require the most expensive research and development that has gone into cars in decades. Once consumers begin to demand them, they will be used to sell cars and the automakers will then push hard to be the best and showcase their abilities.
As a collective group we need to embrace these changes within the industry and work together for a solution to streamline implementation and repair. It will create monetary gains for some and financial difficulties for others; one guarantee is it will create a safer driving environment and experience for all. Focusing on the overall benefit to all of us will create opportunities for success rather than certain failure.
