Planes, Trains and Automobiles: How Safety Practices Percolate Through the Transport Industry
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This article is an excerpt from “One Good Idea Deserves Another,” originally published in the Innovation Issue of APEX Experience magazine.
APEX Insight: What do rainforest creatures, Uber, smart glasses and the aerospace industry have in common? A few really good ideas. This multipart feature looks at the power of industrious thinking, and how invention migrates from one industry to the next.
Crossovers in safety policies, techniques and solutions are increasingly commonplace in the transportation industry. Taking a cue from the airline safety manual, China imposed bans on carry-on items such as lighters and liquids for bus passengers in the Xinjiang capital. In 2014, to boost safety, cruise lines implemented safety regimens adopted from the flight operations protocol used by several airlines.
One aspect of travel security highly relevant to APEX members in the IFE hardware sector is the safety methodologies around testing seat-embedded screens. At the APEX TECH 2014 conference, Derrick Pruitt of Boeing Seats Tech Centre, and leader in the Society of Automotive Engineers, updated attendees on progress in safety screening for IFE, highlighting the specialized IFE testing fixture developed by his team.
Paul Soor, managing director at Volo TV, a UK-based in-train entertainment systems provider, explains that the testing process for seat-embedded systems in the rail sector is just as rigorous: “Infotainment systems are judged just like any hardware on a train so, first of all, [they] must meet something called Railway Group Standards in the UK. These are mandatory.” And like the airline industry, railway safety regulators are evaluating similar safety specifications, such as Head Impact Criterion. “The rail industry does test table and seat design for head (and also abdomen) impact,” says Soor.
It’s hard to imagine a motorized vehicle today sans basic safety devices such as the airbag. However, the first US legislation requiring airbags in passenger cars was not enforced until 1998. And though the Federal Aviation Administration only ruled airbags mandatory on existing and new general aviation aircraft in 2009, airline safety regulators were able to turn to the automotive industry for guidance on airbag safety testing. To this day, safety test methods used in general aviation, including one for head trauma protection, are the same for car seat testing.