Hugh De Haven
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Hugh De Haven was an American pilot, engineer and passive safety pioneer. De Haven survived a plane crash during the First World War [1]. He tried to understand why he survived that crash [2], and he noted that he was the lone survivor, his cockpit being also the only one intact after the crash [3].
De Haven was issued U.S. patent number 2710649 [4] in 1955 for the first three point seat belt, a combination shoulder and lap safety belt.
De Haven has been called "Father of Crash Survivability" [5].
Early in the 20th century, De Haven established the Aviation Safety and Research Facility at Cornell University [6].
In 1939 De Haven recommended the use of helmets and seat belts at a 45º angle [7] in airplanes. He created the inertial reel and the concept of the "delethalized" instrument panel [8] .
In 1942 De Haven published the classic Mechanical analysis of survival in falls from heights of fifty to one hundred and fifty feet. He concluded:
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- The human body can tolerate and expend a force of two hundred times the force of gravity for brief intervals during which the force acts in transverse relation to the long axis of the body. It is reasonable to assume that structural provisions to reduce impact and distribute pressure can enhance survival and modify injury within wide limits in aircraft and automobile accidents. [9]
In 1952 De Haven published a report pointing to the second collision and the risk involved in vehicle ejection. He created the concept of "packaging" car occupants. He concluded:
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- We will get into anybody’s automobile, go any desired distance at dangerous speeds, without safety belts, without shoulder harness, and with a very minimum of padding or other protection to prevent our heads and bodies from smashing against the inside of a car in an accident. The level of safety which we accept for ourselves, our wives and our children is, therefore, on a par with shipping fragile valuable objects loose inside a container.[10]
He also said:
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- "...people knew more about protecting eggs in transit than they did about protecting human heads"[11]
