Cornell Safety Car

The Cornell Safety Car was produced by the Automotive Crash Injury Research project, begun in 1952 by John O. Moore at the Cornell Aeronautical Research Laboratories (spun off in 1972 as Calspan Corporation) at Cornell University. It pioneered the first-ever use of crash testing (originally using corpses rather than dummies). The project discovered that an extraordinary percentage of injuries could be prevented by improved door locks, energy-absorbing steering wheels, padded dashboards, and seat belts. The project led to Liberty Mutual's funding the building of a demonstration Cornell Safety Car in 1956, which received national publicity, and influenced carmakers. Carmakers started their own crash-test laboratories and gradually adopted the main Cornell innovations, all now taken for granted (although others, such as rear-facing passenger seats, never found favor with carmakers or the public).

See also

• Research at Cornell University