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Since 1970 in the United States, nearly 1,000 trunk entrapments have been reported, resulting in more than 250 deaths. Most entrapments and fatalities therefrom involve criminal activity (such as carjackings and kidnappings). Many, however, involve children accidentally trapped in car trunk compartments. During the summer of 1998 alone, 11 children died in three separate incidents through being trapped accidentally in the trunk of a car. In response, FMVSS No: 401 now requires that all passenger cars manufactured after September 1, 2001 be equipped with a release mechanism inside the trunk compartment that unlatches the trunk lid. This paper describes a methodology for evaluation of the effectiveness of manual trunk release handles, and in particular, reports on the ability of young children to manipulate various release handles. Children (three or four years of age) were presented with three types of trunk release handle.

Automotive rearview mirrors have numerous attributes that render them desirable hosts for a variety of added features beyond their principal function of providing a rearview field of vision. One attribute is location. The driver frequently looks at rearview mirrors as part of the normal driving task, and thus they are ideal locations for information display such as of directional information from a compass sensor and/or of temperature information from an exterior temperature sensor. Icons and indicia displaying status of, for example, passenger airbag enable/disable, are readily viewable by the driver when displayed at an interior rearview mirror or exterior sideview mirror. Rearview mirrors are desirable locations for automatic wiper activation rain sensors, automatic headlamp activation controllers, remote keyless entry receivers, garage door opener/home access transmitters, and antennae such as for global positioning satellite (GPS) systems.

Should a rearview mirror shatter under impact in an accident, it is important that occupants are not injured by glass fragments that scatter about the vehicle, and that occupants are not injured should they contact shattered glass retained in the mirror assembly. For decades, the safety of prismatic interior mirrors, and of flat and convex exterior mirrors, has been assured by use of antiscattering backings such as tapes or elastomeric layers which are firmly bonded to the rearmost surface of a single mirror glass element. Such backing materials are designed to prevent fragments detaching from the mirror should the glass shatter, and to securely retain shattered glass such that shards do not slide or otherwise displace so as to create a sharp edge or protrusion likely to lead to a lacerative injury. Recently, electro-optic mirrors have been introduced for use both on the interior and exterior of automobiles.

In-mold coating (IMC) is used to provide protection against ultraviolet (UV) degradation of reaction injection molded (RIM) polyurethane encapsulated modular windows. IMC is a cost-effective method of producing weatherable RIM encapsulated windows. Coating thickness along with intrinsic UV absorbance plays an important role in providing the needed protection from UV degradation. The effectiveness of various thicknesses of in-mold coatings was measured using a spectrophotometer. The thickness of the in-mold coatings was measured using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Experiments were conducted to determine the desired coating thickness for the IMC process. A statistical analysis was performed on the coating thickness of in-mold coated windows produced under experimental conditions in order to determine the process capability to provide the desired coating thickness. This data was used to establish a lower limit on mean thickness to enable statistical process control.

Influenced both by styling considerations and by the aerodynamic benefits possible using flush glazing, car designers are making increasing use of glazing on automobiles. This leads to higher throughput of solar radiation into the car. Solar heat load will thus become a greater problem given that fuel efficiency requirements limit increase in the size of vehicle air-conditioners. Driver discomfort will increase due to the absence of shade, and greenhouse effects will become more serious. This leads to opportunities for energy-efficient glazing in vehicles. Smart windows - windows whose luminous and solar transmission vary dynamically to suit changing climatic conditions - have a potential application as energy-efficient automobile glazing. A variety of chromogenic technologies have been proposed. These include liquid crystal (LC) technology such as encapsulated LC devices consisting of small liquid crystal droplets encapsulated in a polymer matrix.

OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS, electrochromic mirrors will be introduced for use on automobiles, initially as interior mirrors and later for the exterior. Electrochromic mirrors have variable reflectivity and this offers an opportunity to select a reflectance level that avoids glare, but that maintains rear vision. Human factors studies can relate driver discomfort to incident glare and the results can be incorporated into a fully automatic mirror whose reflectivity varies dynamically to suit changing driving conditions. In automatic mode, the electrochromic mirror responds appropriately to all driving situations, and mirror operation is transparent to the driver with smooth response and no unexpected change. This paper explains the scientific basis of electrochromism and traces development of the technology to its present applications. Electrochromic mirrors presently available worldwide are reviewed.