The design of cars takes into account the requirements of active and passive safety, which have received much attention in recent years.
Active vehicle safety is the sum of the factors that contribute to the prevention of an accident. These include: good stability and controllability, high traction, effective and stable deceleration when braking, good visibility and comfort, ensuring minimal driver fatigue.
VAZ cars have good comfort, determined by the ease and ease of driving, the shape, size, location and softness of the seats, providing a comfortable fit for the driver, effective body ventilation, good visibility from the driver's seat, low noise in the cabin, minimal influence of oscillations and vibrations of the body.
The brakes of automobiles do not lose their effectiveness after repeated braking from high speed and ensure that the set direction of movement is maintained during heavy braking by eliminating rear wheel lockup and minimal change in the effectiveness of wet brakes. The vacuum booster used on the VAZ-2103 car provides high braking efficiency with limited pedal effort.
The reliability of the brake system is provided by disc brakes on the front wheels and a separate drive, in which the master cylinder has two pistons: one for driving the front brakes, and the second for driving the rear. In this case, if one of the systems fails, the remaining one, although with less efficiency, provides braking of the car.
High vehicle dynamics increases average speeds and facilitates maneuvers.
Narrow windshield pillars, lack of shiny surfaces in the driver's field of vision, dimensions of rear-view mirrors, dimensions of the windshield cleaning area with a wiper, effective operation of the front window washers at high speed and effective elimination of glass fogging by the body heating system, and on the VAZ-2103 and ventilation in the rear window zone provides good visibility on VAZ vehicles, and therefore, safe driving conditions. To eliminate the blinding of the driver by the headlights of the rear-going cars, internal rear-view mirrors with the position «day» and «night».
A triplex windshield, consisting of two layers of glass with a transparent plastic film between them, remains always transparent, unlike tempered glass, which instantly becomes opaque when broken, making it impossible for the driver to see the road.
Seats with adjustable length and angle of the backrest, as well as a convenient location of controls improve the working conditions of the driver.
Passive safety is the sum of factors aimed at reducing the consequences if the accident still could not be avoided. These include:
- 1) ensuring the smallest deformations of the passenger compartment of the body during frontal and side impacts, as well as overturning and rear impact;
- 2) seat belts, safe steering and safe internal equipment of the body, which reduces injury to the driver and passengers;
- 3) safety of the external form, without protruding elements, which, when colliding with a pedestrian or one-sided collision with another car, contributes to slipping;
- 4) standardization of fire safety of cars.
Currently, in many countries there are legal provisions for car safety. In addition to this, there are also requirements (rules) on security developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
To date, the UNECE requirements are the minimum that the design of the relevant components or vehicle parameters must meet.
The design and execution of VAZ vehicles and their components basically meet the relevant requirements (Rules) UNECE.
So, for example, headlights and incandescent lamps in them with asymmetrical dipped-beam lights are designed in such a way that the dipped-beam filament provides not blinding, but sufficient illumination, and the high-beam filament provides good illumination of the road. This is in accordance with Rules Nos. 1 and 2.
Reflectors that are easy to clean, in terms of design, size, shape, as well as calorimetric, photometric, physical and mechanical properties, comply with Rule No. 3.
License plate lighting complies with Rules No. 4, and direction indicators, side lamps, rear red lights and brake lights comply with Rules Nos. 6 and 7 in terms of the strength of the emitted light, its distribution and color.
The exhaust system for external noise, measured according to the method of Rule No. 9, both when the vehicle is moving and when it is stopped, meets the requirements for vehicles.
To suppress radio-electrical interference, vehicles have devices that, under normal operating conditions, comply with the requirements of Regulation No. 10.
Door hinges and door locks with latches modified in 1974 comply with Regulation No. 11 in terms of strength.
Biomedical studies of maximum loads that are safe for the human body formed the basis of the requirements for steering safety set forth in the standards of the USA, Sweden, France and in the UNECE recommendations (Rule #12).
The main requirements of UNECE Regulation N9 12 are reduced to two provisions:
- 1) When tested against a fixed obstacle with an unladen vehicle traveling at 48.3 km/h, the top of the steering shaft shall not move more than 127 mm horizontally inward of the body during dynamic steering movement at the time of impact.
- 2) during bench tests for impact by a dummy simulating the driver's torso on the steering wheel with a relative speed of 24.1 km/h, the force acting from the steering wheel in the horizontal direction and recorded on «chest» dummy must not exceed 1135 kg.
Tests of VAZ vehicles confirmed the compliance of their steering with the requirements.
Places, points of attachment of seat belts in terms of location, number, thread and strength comply with Regulation No. 14.
Since 1974, VAZ vehicles have been complying with UNECE Regulation No. 15, which regulates the toxicity of engine exhaust gases.
The strength of the seats and their attachment to the body, including the backrest adjustment mechanisms of cars manufactured since 1974, complies with Regulation No. 17.
The front seat fore/aft locks and backrest recline systems withstand inertial forces at an acceleration of 20g.
Seat backs and backrest adjustment mechanisms withstand the bending moment test prescribed by Regulation No. 17, and the seat-to-floor attachment and longitudinal locking system withstand a longitudinal horizontal force equal to 20 times the weight of the seat.
The last test is carried out on the same seat in two steps: once the force is applied in the forward direction, the second time - back.
The vehicle anti-theft device is designed to comply with Regulation No. 18 and withstand the static moment of 20 kgf·m required by the Regulation without damage to the control that could pose a safety hazard.
The equipment of the car interior and the location of the controls comply with UNECE Regulation No. 21:
- 1) the front of the cabin is able to absorb impact energy;
- 2) interior details are safe from injury: they have a streamlined shape, rounded edges;
- 3) the location of the controls, including the gearshift lever, the handbrake lever and the seat and backrest control handles, comply with the requirements of the Rules;
- 4) the inside of the roof does not have dangerous bumps or sharp edges pointing backwards or downwards;
- 5) the rear of the seats are free of dangerous bumps or protrusions, and the front seat backs dissipate impact energy.
The reversing lamp, available on the VAZ-2103 car and designed to illuminate the road behind the car and to give a warning signal when reversing, is designed so that under normal conditions of use it works properly, retaining its characteristics, and the light emitted by the lamp in color (white), in strength and distribution, complies with Rule No. 23.
The design of the external forms of the car fits into Regulation No. 26, stipulating that the outer surface (if it can be touched by a ball with a diameter of 100 mm) should not have protruding pointed or cutting parts and protrusions.
Special provisions of these Rules stipulate requirements for the design of external decorative parts of the body, including headlight rims, for the design of grilles and bumpers, fastening of wiper blades, door handles and hinges, handles and buttons for trunks and lids, filler openings and tank caps, fastening nuts wheels, hub caps, gutters, body upholstery and jack insertion devices.
The regulation does not apply to outside rear-view mirrors and accessories such as radio antennas and roof racks (on the roof).
Sound signaling of VAZ vehicles and sound signals correspond to the requirements of Rule No. 28 in terms of acoustic and mechanical characteristics.