# Safety Testing Customer Showcase ## DTS Internal Presentation - Ben (Application Engineer) ### Duration: 45 minutes --- ## Presentation Outline (DRAFT v1) ### Opening Hook (2-3 min) - Compelling statistic: Lives saved by modern vehicle safety - "Every data point we help capture contributes to this" --- ### Part 1: The Pioneers - History of Safety Testing (15-17 min) #### A. The Dark Ages of Vehicle Safety (2 min) - Pre-1950s: No seatbelts, rigid steering columns, no crumple zones - Death rate statistics per mile driven vs. today #### B. Col. John Stapp - The Fastest Man on Earth (4-5 min) - The rocket sled experiments (1940s-1950s) - Subjected himself to 46g deceleration - Proved humans could survive higher forces than believed - His advocacy for seatbelts and safety standards - **Video opportunity**: Rocket sled footage #### C. The Cadaver Pioneers (2-3 min) - Early biomechanics research - How we learned human tolerance to impact - The ethical debates and contributions #### D. Ralph Nader & "Unsafe at Any Speed" (1965) (3-4 min) - The Corvair controversy - Public awakening to automotive safety - Birth of NHTSA (1970) - The shift from "driver error" to "crashworthiness" #### E. The Seatbelt Revolution (2-3 min) - Nils Bohlin and Volvo's 3-point belt (1959) - Volvo's decision to share the patent freely - Resistance and eventual adoption/legislation --- ### Part 2: The Modern Safety Ecosystem (12-15 min) #### A. Regulatory Bodies & Testing Programs (4-5 min) - **NHTSA** - Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) - **IIHS** - Insurance-funded independent testing - How IIHS changed the game with the small overlap test - The competitive pressure of ratings - **Euro NCAP** and global NCAP programs - **Video opportunity**: IIHS crash test footage #### B. Types of Safety Testing Customers (5-6 min) 1. **Government/Regulatory** - NHTSA Vehicle Research & Test Center (Ohio) - Transport Canada - International equivalents 2. **Academic/Research Institutions** - Ohio State Injury Biomechanics Research Center - Wayne State University - University of Virginia Center for Applied Biomechanics - Wake Forest 3. **Independent Test Labs** - Calspan (Buffalo, NY) - MGA Research - Karco Engineering 4. **OEM In-House Testing** - GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda safety labs - The scale of their operations 5. **Insurance Industry** - IIHS (Highway Loss Data Institute) 6. **Tier 1 Suppliers** - Autoliv, ZF/TRW, Joyson Safety Systems - Restraint system development #### C. The Economics of Safety Testing (3-4 min) - What a crash test costs ($50K-$500K+) - ATD (crash test dummy) pricing ($100K-$800K) - Why data acquisition is critical investment - The regulatory compliance vs. competitive advantage dynamic --- ### Part 3: What They're Testing & Why (8-10 min) #### A. Crash Test Types (3-4 min) - Frontal (full, offset, small overlap) - Side impact (moving barrier, pole) - Rear impact - Rollover - Pedestrian protection - **Video opportunity**: Various test types montage #### B. Beyond Automotive (2-3 min) - Sports helmet testing (NFL, hockey, cycling) - Military blast/ballistic protection - Aerospace ejection seats - Playground equipment - Child car seats #### C. The ATD (Crash Test Dummy) (2-3 min) - Evolution from Sierra Sam to THOR - Hybrid III family - WorldSID - Where DTS fits: the nervous system of the dummy --- ### Part 4: Impact & Inspiration (3-5 min) #### A. The Numbers That Matter - Traffic fatalities per 100M miles: 1970 vs today - Estimated lives saved by specific technologies - The hidden impact: injuries prevented, severities reduced #### B. Our Role in the Ecosystem - DTS equipment in virtually every major safety lab worldwide - "When a researcher needs to know exactly what forces a human body experiences..." - Light product mention: reliability, accuracy, trust #### C. Closing - Every test, every data point, every improvement - "We're not just selling data acquisition - we're part of a system that saves lives" --- ## Research Needed - [ ] Exact statistics on lives saved - [ ] Col. Stapp biographical details and quotes - [ ] IIHS small overlap test history and impact - [ ] Crash test cost ranges (verify) - [ ] ATD pricing (verify) - [ ] Video clip sources - [ ] Customer-specific stories (check with sales/marketing) --- ## Video Clip Candidates 1. Col. Stapp rocket sled (public domain?) 2. IIHS crash test compilation 3. Historical crash test footage (1950s-60s) 4. Modern NCAP test 5. Customer facility tour (if available) --- ## Notes - Target: Mixed audience, varying knowledge levels - Tone: Educational but inspiring - Goal: Remind team who we serve and why it matters