@DB @roamer_1 To get back on topic, the most survivable crash (something those of us who like motorcycles have been saying for decades, now) is the one that didn't happen.
As I have been repeatedly assured from the time I first got behind the wheel of a tractor (5 years old), on every job site and oil rig I have been on, the best piece of safety equipment a person has is between their ears. All the crumple zones, air bags, padded interiors, 'cabin integrity', EMS training, Trauma Centers and air medivac squadrons in the world are moot if you just don't wreck the darned vehicle.
Bottom line is that while all the geegaws may make someone safer
when they have a wreck, do they make them a better driver? Or do they just give them the impression they are 'safe' and free them to find another way to be reckless, giving them the option of blaming the gadgets for their own failure to pay attention, or their lack of skill behind the wheel?
This may sound harsh, but when there were no seat belts, the dashboards were steel, and airbags were science fiction, people drove more carefully because any wreck was going to hurt. That didn't stop the drunks, the stupid, the careless, and a few unfortunates from turning the highways into abattoirs, but people generally paid more attention, and the kids in the back seat learned to behave and play quietly. You heard 'that funny noise' long before a wheel fell off or something broke because you were listening to the vehicle. And if you were a kid in the back seat, you learned that driving was serious business.
As a matter of note, as the transition from those 'more primitive' vehicles to ones loaded with 'safety' systems occurred, something else was happening on the other side of the equation.
Traditional fixed objects were being replaced with breakaway sign posts and energy absorbing barriers.
Shock Trauma at Johns Hopkins had developed a 'new' concept in civilian trauma treatment, concentrating on "The Golden Hour", getting seriously injured people to the sort of surgeons and medical facilities which could handle those injuries within 60 minutes of the injury.
The State of Maryland purchased two helicopters which were operated by the State Police but whose primary mission was to evacuate trauma patients from accident scenes to the new Trauma Unit at Hopkins. (The Governor was in transit in one of the helos when a call came in, the pilot set him down in a small town on the Eastern Shore and proceeded to the accident scene for the pickup.) There were incredible political fights over the concept, often with local hospitals dead set against it.
EMS training improved substantially from ambulance personnel being "qualified" to run calls with Red Cross Standard and Advanced First Aid cards to full EMT certifications (and later, Paramedics).
Extrication equipment moved from what looked like giant can openers and pry bars and chain come-alongs to the "Jaws of Life" (a huge improvement, and a tool I absolutely loved to use) which made peeling the vehicle away from the victim faster and more precise than ever, which was good, because vehicles were becoming lighter and less structural.
That more rapid and precise extrication, better First Responder training and equipment, and more efficient transport not to the
nearest medical facility, but the
best facility for those type of injuries, made a huge difference in patient survivability.
While that did not occur everywhere at once, the proof of concept finally overcame the 'nearest hospital' turf wars over patients, and within a decade the concept was in use across most of America.
With the possible exception of the seat belt (still relevant) and the collapsible steering column (which used to be a selling point, now so standard it isn't mentioned), I'd give those factors the credit for reducing the death toll more than anything else.
Crumple zones and air bags were still in the future, along with lane alerts and back up cameras, traction control, AWD/shift on the fly 4WD, and a host of other gadgets on 'wish list' drawing boards.
But if the driver isn't paying attention to what they are doing, or doesn't have the skill to operate in the conditions they are driving in, the result can be unpleasant.
Here, with the latest round of road construction (and even before) 'rumble strips' are impressed in the asphalt along the edge of the highway and at the center line on major roads, similar to ones which cross the lane as one approaches a stop sign. The unpleasant sound will wake a driver who nodded off, and alert anyone by sound and feel that they are crossing one. That infrastructure modification works with any vehicle that runs on wheels, adds no cost per automobile produced, and requires only welding bars on one side of the roller when the asphalt is finished, which can be ground off later for smooth work: cheap, effective, and has backward compatibility. That simple modification for the construction crew works much later, even in a whiteout, and doubtless has saved many lives here.
