|
|
|
|
Official Press Release Information Below
Experimental Road Safety Study Fiesta
This unique Ford Fiesta has a centrally positioned drivers seat and controls and is being used in a series of road safety experiments by a West German research team.
News Release - Unique Fiesta Aids Road Safety
A special three-seat Ford Fiesta is assisting a West German scientist and his research team in a unique series of studies and experiments to improve road safety.
As part of this research programme, Professor Henning Gold of the Road Safety & Research Establishment at Bingen in South-West Germany, has developed a Fiesta in which the driver is seated in the centre of the car with the two passengers occupying the rear seat.
Professor Gold believes that the centre driving position not only makes it easier for drivers to judge the width of the car more accurately when overtaking or negotiating congested city streets, but that it also helps to improve forward visibility and overall car control.
He further claims that the single seat centre position would improve side impact safety for the driver, give the passengers more leg-room and, by utilising the space on either side of the driver's seat, increase luggage capacity. It would also enable the driver to enter the car through either door with equal ease and assist the passengers to reach the rear seat more easily.
In addition to moving the front seat to the centre of the car, Professor Gold has repositioned the instrument panel, brake, clutch and accelerator pedals, together with the gear lever and handbrake to suit the new interior layout.
Results of the experiment will not be known for a further 12 months but as Professor Gold says: "Initial studies have shown that the reduction in accommodation with the Fiesta has not proved to be a problem in typical day-to-day operation. Much of the time most cars operate with just the driver."
ISSUED BY THE PRESS OFFICE - FORD MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED
– ENDS –
|
|
|
