Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. has developed an innovative “pop-up engine hood” to help reduce head impact injuries in the event of a pedestrian collision. The new safety feature will debut on the new Skyline coupe, set for release this fall in Japan.
The concept of the pop-up hood is based on a very simple principle: to help minimize serious head injury by creating more space to avoid collision with hard objects. In the case of a car-pedestrian collision, the engine hood is designed to pop-up instantly to help create a protective buffer space between the hood and the engine components underneath.
Upon impact with a pedestrian and based on the severity of that impact, a sensor incorporated in the bumper activates the pop-up control-unit which in turn will trigger an explosive actuator that raises the hood.
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The pop-up hood also allows car designers greater freedom in having to balance the aesthetic of a streamlined hood design with the safety benefits of adding more protective space over the engine components.
On a global level, Nissan is committed to build safer vehicles equipped with advanced safety technologies. In Japan, the company's safety vision is to halve the number of traffic fatalities or serious injuries involving Nissan vehicles by 2015 compared with the level in 1995.
