Accident prevention has existed at Daimler, for example, since Wilhelm Bauer's terrible accident in southern France in 1900. Also such a moment when one wanted to retire from racing. But the duo of Jellinek and Maybach, who were in full cry from now on, accepted the challenge of combating the overly high center of gravity and thus the overturning moment of the racing cars of the time.

Frames were created that allowed a lower installed engine and thus a low center of gravity. Somewhat later, instead of the two perfectly straight longitudinal spars, those were used that made arches over the axles in order to be able to arrange them lower as well. To this day, rigid axles are sometimes attached above the leaf springs, which further lowers the center of gravity.

In the period after 1900, Maybach was then able to continuously increase the power of the engines. But that only applied to racing cars, not to ordinary cars. Even on the much later built autobahns in the Third Reich, the maximum speed was 80 km/h. If the could be held out, then that was much more than on the congested country roads and city thoroughfares, where you were also stuck often behind very slow transport vehicles on every slightest incline.

As a result of these facts, it was only in the post-war period in Europe and Germany that higher speeds became possible as motorization increased. As a result, the number of serious accidents increased and research into passive safety began to gain momentum. Incidentally, this was already earlier the case in the USA because of the more advanced mass motorization.

However, DKW is said to have pioneered body stability tests in the 1930s. They had the problem of convincing potential buyers of the solidity of their bodies, partly only made of plywood. For example, there exists a picture where a number of workers are standing on a ceiling that was attached to the roof of such a vehicle. Like DKW, Ford with the T-model and VW with the Beetle, for example, also carried out 'roll-off tests' by letting the car roll over the edge of a larger pit and then overturn several times.

DKW was also familiar with attempts to test the strength of side walls including doors. Like today, they were exposed to the impact of e.g. heavy lumbers, which by the way, both wood and the Bakelite that was emerging at the time, coped with at least as well as the then new all-steel constructions.

Absolutely important, the swing to America. There is an easy-to-remember figure that in 1950 there were almost 50 million cars in the USA, accompanied by around 35,000 road deaths. This actually makes the introduction of passive accident protection by the manufacturers urgent, but they revel more in the design changes that are offered to customers every year. Accident research has existed in the USA for much longer than in Europe, initiated by the American pilot Hugh DeHaven.

He had survived a crash during World War I and wondered why and where he got his injuries from. Due to the much larger number of accidents, including those involving (combat) planes, medical data could be statistically evaluated from the late 1930s. And then there was the famous John Paul Stapps, who sometimes made himself available for his rocket tests due to a lack of test subjects.

Let's sum up the results with the basic knowledge of a Belá Barényi from the mid-twenties: Passengers are then safe in a stable passenger compartment if nothing penetrates more strongly in the event of an accident, e.g. the steering. Incidentally, one has invented suitable to this the laminated glass pane shortly after 1900 in England. On the other hand, this invention makes it clear how long it takes for such products to be introduced ubiquitous into series production.

Barényi went even further after his experiments in the service of Mercedes and is now considered the father of the compressible front and rear crash zones typical of all Mercedes after 1960 together with padded dashboards and steering wheels. Conversely, we must credit Volvo with the first standard introduction of seat belts, albeit ones that were common on American aircraft early on. However, initially not because of a possible impact, but to prevent falling out when looping.