Laminated Glass Occupant Containment
2009 April 7
Occupant containment refers to a variety of measures a manufacturer can take to ensure an occupant stays in the vehicle during a roll sequence. For example, through the use of a stronger/reinforced roof, side-curtain airbags, laminated glass, and a variety of seatbelt configurations and systems, a car manufacturer could increase the likelihood that an occupant would not get any part of his body out of a vehicle during a rollover. All means of occupant containment should be fully investigated when a rollover results in an occupant being partially or fully ejected during a roll sequence.Laminated Glass claims are based on the theory that if the vehicle’s windows were all laminated like the front windshield, then they would not shatter as easily leaving an open portal for a person to be fully or partially ejected. There has been a lot of testing showing that a significant amount of force or deformation around a window is required to create a portal in a window with laminated glass. The typical glass used in vehicle windows, non-laminated, shatters and expels creating a portal with very little deformation or force.
Laminated glass has been technologically feasible for a long time. It has been in windshields for many years. In many model years, it will be one of the most available measures car manufacturers could have taken to increase the chances that people are not ejected during a foreseeable rollover.
