Typically, crumple zones are located in the front part of the vehicle, in order to absorb the impact of a head-on collision, though they may be found on other parts of the vehicle as well. According to a British Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre study of where on the vehicle impact damage occurs: 65% were front impacts, 25% rear impacts, 5% left side, and 5% right side. . . .[7]
The crumple zone concept was invented and patented by the Austrian Mercedes-Benz engineer Béla Barényi originally in 1937 before he worked for Mercedes-Benz and in a more developed form in 1952.[13] . . . The Mercedes-Benz patent number 854157, granted in 1952, describes the decisive feature of passive safety. Barényi questioned the opinion prevailing until then, that a safe car had to be rigid. He divided the car body into three sections: the rigid non-deforming passenger compartment and the crumple zones in the front and the rear. They are designed to absorb the energy of an impact (kinetic energy) by deformation during collision.[15] The first Mercedes-Benz carbody developed using this patent was the 1959 Mercedes W111 “Tail Fin” Saloon.[13] The safety cell and crumple zones were achieved primarily by the design of the longitudinal members: these were straight in the centre of the vehicle and formed a rigid safety cage with the body panels, the front and rear supports were curved so they deformed in the event of an accident, absorbing part of the collision energy and preventing the full force of the impact from reaching the occupants.[13][16][17][18]
A more recent development was for these curved longitudinal members is to be weakened by vertical and lateral ribs to form telescoping 'crash can' crush structures. . . .
Volvo introduced the side crumple zone with the introduction of the SIPS (Side Impact Protection System) in the early 1990s. . . .
. . . In fact, crumple zones are typically located in front of and behind the main body of the car (which forms a rigid 'safety cell'), compacting within the space of the engine compartment or boot/trunk. Modern vehicles using what are commonly termed 'crumple zones' provide far superior protection for their occupants in severe tests against other vehicles with crumple zones and solid static objects than older models or SUVs that use a separate chassis frame and have no crumple zones.[ . . .
