It is difficult to escape the issue of obesity. According to scientists, it is becoming one of the biggest health problems for the UK’s population. It seems that we are alerted to new and alarming obesity statistics every time we switch on the TV, read the newspaper or pick up a magazine, yet the situation does not seem to be getting any better.

There is a constant barrage of solutions to the problem of obesity that are thrown at us. Some solutions present new and ingenious diets as the answer, others recommend a simple course of lots of exercise, whilst still others tout the effectiveness of appetite-restricting pills and medical treatments.

Whilst scientists and researchers discover the answer to reducing the problem of obesity, we need to find ways to cater for the needs of people who do not conform to the average size expectations. The clothing industry is taking this seriously, with a great variety of shops and online stores springing up which have been created with the aim of providing attractive clothing in larger sizes.

However, many other industries appear to be doing a lot less than clothes stores. Take car manufacturers, for example. There are no manufacturers which advertise the fact that they have specially designed interiors for larger people, and safety equipment does not appear to be as effective.

Research in the US revealed that obese people are more than twice as likely to die in a car accident as slim people. The study found that both people who have a BMI of 35 or greater (30 is obese) and those who weigh in excess of 15 stone have more than double the chance of being killed in car accidents.

One motor insurance company has even suggested making car insurance quotes more expensive for drivers who are overweight. This would be for the same reason that men’s car insurance quotes are normally higher than women’s – men present a greater risk on the roads so are charged more for their policies. Although this may be true for obese people, there are no plans as yet for this to actually come into effect.

The reasons behind the greater risk of death on the roads are not absolutely clear and there appear to be a number of factors involved. One factor is the fact that obese people are prone to sleep apnoea and other sleep conditions which may increase their likelihood of being involved in a fatigue-related accident in which they do not brake or try to mitigate the damage done in the crash.

Those who are overweight are also more likely to have existing health problems, such as high blood pressure. This raises the chance of complications should they be injured in an accident and means they may be more seriously affected than someone else who had been in the same situation.

These factors are out of the control of car manufacturers and there is little that they can do about them. However, what could be done is to adapt the in-car safety equipment to take better account of those who are larger than the average size.

When car safety tests are carried out, the dummy used is the 50th percentile male. This is the ‘average driver’ and this size dummy is chosen so that the safety equipment will be tested for its effectiveness on a person of standard size. However, what may be very effective for someone of average-size may not be nearly as effective for those who are not.

Airbags are at the centre of this discussion, as they can potentially cause terrible injuries if a person’s head collides with one before it has fully deployed. Size and weight are thus very important issues to consider in the design of airbags, and it is vital that airbag manufacturers take into consideration the growing number of heavier people.

Researchers have started looking into smart airbags to provide a solution to this problem. These airbags would measure the position and size of the person and react accordingly so that the person and airbag collide at the appropriate time. Tiny cameras are used in some of the smart airbag systems which are in development, as these would be able to monitor activity within the vehicle precisely, thus providing the best possible airbag reaction.

Seatbelts are another safety feature which may need to be altered in order to provide better protection. At present, some find them too uncomfortable to wear correctly while others neglect to wear them at all. This may well have an influence on the high death rates of obese people that were found by researchers, as the wearing of seatbelts is instrumental in preventing serious injuries. Simply lengthening them or adapting their design could improve comfort and usage rates for overweight drivers and passengers.

It is likely that the obesity problem in the UK will remain for quite some time as it is not something that there is any quick fix for. By taking the time to research car interiors that would be suitable for people of different sizes, driving could be made a much safer and more comfortable experience for the millions of British people who are overweight.

One of the most important aspects more and more automotive manufacturers have been focusing on lately is car safety. The concern is regarding the insertion of more and more systems which will make your car safer and easily to handle in extreme situations. The number of airbags has been increased to protect all the car’s passengers and electronic systems, such as anti-lock brakes and stability control, have begun to become widely spread. At first, such systems were introduced on high-end models and in time they were implemented on mainstream models.

When we talk about car safety, we refer to two types of security: passive and active.

The systems which concern the active security of a car are those devices which actively intervene in order to prevent any threat. The anti-lock brakes, the electronic stability and traction control systems are all included in this category and they activate prior to an accident.

If accident has occurred, it is the purpose of the passive security elements to protect the passengers. The special-designed crumple zones, the seatbelts and the airbags are the elements belonging to the passive safety of a vehicle.

The passive safety features work together to protect your life. They are designed from start to work together and if not so, their efficiency has to suffer. For example, an airbag inflated immediately after an accident can cause more harm than good if that person did not wear a seatbelt. The seatbelts are the oldest passive security features included in cars and they also have evolved greatly in time.

One of the most important safety elements is the car’s structure and design. Manufacturers use high-strength steel elements which will reduce the chance that the passengers will be injured by different objects intruding the passenger safety cell.

Today’s car structures are well studied in test laboratories and they are designed to distribute the immense energies resulting from an accident around the passenger compartment. This cell must remain intact no matter what and it is made from special types of very resistant steel.

The airbags are another important safety feature. Although they are designed to save your life in case of an accident, there have been witnessed cases in which, due to an incorrect position in the car when the accident occurred, they did more harm than good. Such examples are not wearing a seatbelt or situating yourself very close to the dashboard or steering wheel (the minimum distance from the steering wheel should be at least 10 or 12 inches). New airbag designs can deploy in two stages, accordingly to the severity of the crash. Because of their great benefit to car safety, airbag presence in a new car is mandatory in the US, in Canada and in Europe.

The airbag is a special bag made from a thin fabric. It is situated inside the steering wheel, in the passenger’s dashboard and other places in the car. Its deployment is controlled by a computer, based on the information received from sensors situated in front of the car. When the energy level inflicted by a crash reaches a certain measurement point, the computer will deploy the bags. Hot nitrogen is used to inflate the bag, and it expands very fast, preventing your head and chest from touching powerfully the interior’s hard materials. After expanding from the steering wheel, the gas escapes, allowing you to get out of the vehicle after the crash.