Expert stresses importance of "reducing speed at time of collision to reduce road traffic injuries"

Ramón Paredes, Vice-President for Government and Institutional Relations of SEAT and group VW Spain, and Fernando de la Puente, director of research and development of the university. PHOTO: Manuel Castells

"Lowering the speed at the moment of the collision directly affects the energy of the accident and this reduces the chances of injury", said Professor Carlos Arregui today at the University of Navarra. The researcher of the department of Preventive Medicine intervened in the "workshop SEAT-group VW: design, development, safety and sportsmanship", whose goal was to acquaint the students with the cycle of development and manufacture of the cars of this business.

Carlos Arregui recalled that research in injury prevention in traffic accidents is based on scientific evidence -such as that obtained through tests with dummies or mannequins, which reproduce the behavior of the human body-. In this sense, he stated that the simulation with these dummies is carried out at a maximum speed of 64 km/hour: "It is done at this speed because it is the one that takes place in most of the collisions between two vehicles, taking into account the previous braking, etc.".

He also pointed out that impact biomechanics enables manufacturers such as SEAT to introduce improvements to make their cars safer to drive. In this respect, the specialist said that in this field work is being carried out continuously on new dummies that are increasingly more faithful to humans, "so that their response in the simulation is as accurate as possible".

Jordi Gené and SEAT's competition strategy

Public attending the "workshop SEAT-group VW: design, development, safety and sportiness".

Photo: Manuel Castells

The initiative classroom Seat, which tours several universities, has been organized at partnership with Fundación business-Universidad de Navarra. In the sessions, managers from different areas of the automotive brand explained the integral process of development of a vehicle, from the moment the designer has the first idea until the car is presented to the customer.

The workshop addressed aspects such as passive safety, the development of a car's chassis, electronic integration or the production system. For this purpose, it was attended, among others, by the Vice-President for Government and Institutional Relations of SEAT and group VW Spain, Ramón Paredes; the director of research and development of the University of Navarra, Fernando de la Puente; as well as the director of SEAT Sport, Jaume Puig, or the driver of the official SEAT team, Jordi Gené, who spoke about SEAT Sport's strategy in competition.