During 15 years of work with the police and with insurance companies, William Wirich Harper of Pasadena, physicist-consultant on auto accidents, has investigated 3,000 smashups. He has come to a basic conclusion: "We have spent too damn much time worrying about the cause of accidents. It's time we started worrying about the cause of injuries."
Fifty to 60% of injuries are due to people being thrown against the inside of the car. Twenty to 30% are due to people being thrown out of the car. Only ten to 20% are caused by actual crushing of the passenger space.
The simplest way to...