Adrian Hobbs Explained

Adrian Hobbs (born January 1946) is a British safety expert who specialises in vehicle crashworthiness with a background in accident and injury investigation/analysis.

As an engineer and later as Honorary Chief Research Scientist, Hobbs was involved in the UK Government's programme of Crash Injury Research. He undertook research that helped lead to the mandatory wearing of the seat belt in the UK, the development of the Offset Deformable Frontal Barrier Crash Test and the establishment of the safety organisation Euro NCAP. Hobbs was awarded a C.B.E. in 2008.

Hobbs has provided advice to the World Bank, the World Health Organization, the European Commission and Central European and North African countries on transport safety and the provision of emergency services.

Safety career

Hobbs joined the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) in 1972 as a Scientific Officer. For two years he was involved in researching accident causation, investigating accidents alongside the police about the contributing factors to an accident. In 1976 he reported on his analysis of brake defects and their contribution to accidents.

In 1974, he shifted his focus to car occupant injuries. He analysed and reported on the direct connection between the accident, resulting injuries, their causes and the effectiveness of safety features with medical data, car inspection and questionnaires. During this period he concluded that intrusion into the passenger compartment of the vehicle during a frontal impact accident played a very major role in causing injuries.

In 1978, Hobbs published a comprehensive study of the life-saving potential of seat belt wearing. This study helped lead to the passing of the mandatory seat belt wearing legislation in the UK,^[1] which came into force on 31 January 1983.

Hobbs then switched his research focus to vehicle safety and, in 1985, he designed a demonstration Pedestrian Safety Car (based on a Mini Metro), later modified to incorporate Frontal and Side impact protection. For side impact, conventional wisdom held that protection came from strengthening the side of the car and providing padding protection on the inside of the door. Hobbs expressed his concern that many manufacturers were simply fitting door beams, located where they could increase the risk of injury. Hobbs's modifications did improve the car, but the car still did not provide good protection or meet the proposed side impact test requirements. Elsewhere in France, Germany, and the UK another vehicle was tested. Hobbs researched about this car, which although weaker than the modified Metro, performed better. He discovered that a lighter door bounces off the impacting car and starts moving the occupant earlier, increasing the time the body has to absorb the impact, so reducing the severity of injuries. He also discovered that when the door is controlled to move in vertically, it spreads the load over the chest, abdomen and pelvis consequently avoiding its concentration on the vulnerable chest area, reducing the possibility of a fatal injury. The provision of padding, Hobbs concluded, had to be very soft to help spread the load and cushion the impact. These conclusions and research directly contributed to the development of the European Side Impact Directive.

In the early 1990s, Hobbs identified inadequacies in the current frontal crash test procedure and his research led to the development of the Offset Deformable Barrier (ODB) Frontal Impact Crash Test. Hobbs's frontal ODB test was adopted, in Europe and elsewhere, for both legislation and consumer test programmes.

Hobbs then took on the study of compatibility, the science of how cars could work together to minimise injuries to the occupants of both vehicles. Although the research identified what needed to be changed and an assessment procedure was developed, research funding dried up and government interest in further improving car crash safety was absent.

Europe

During the 1990s, Hobbs was a member of the European Experimental Vehicles Committee (EEVC) in particular of the Frontal Impact and the Compatibility Working Groups, which he initiated. He also collaborated with other working groups to develop test procedures for side impact and pedestrian protection.

Hobbs was asked by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) to present the case for the adoption of the EEVC Frontal and Side Impact test procedures for European Type Approval to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The EEVC was proposing an initial crash test speed of 56 km/h (approx. 30 mph) rather than the 60 km/h already used in research crash tests.

Consumer information

In the UK, Hobbs had been working on a proposal for an independent crash test programme called UK NCAP. His proposal, presented in 1994, outlined to the UK department of Transport the concept of a consumer information programme based on the EEVC proposed frontal impact, side impact and pedestrian protection crash test procedures.

The Department of Transport agreed to go ahead with the proposal and initiated the first phase of tests and assessments. Following further discussions with the European Commission, in Brussels, Hobbs mentioned the proposal to Mosley. Called initially the UK NCAP programme it later came to be branded, with the support of the FIA and other European players, as Euro NCAP.

Euro NCAP (the European New Car Assessment Programme) is an established consumer-testing programme that assesses and publishes the safety of new cars and provides valuable safety information to consumers. The inaugural meeting of Euro NCAP was held in December 1996 with the UK Department of Transport, the FIA, the Swedish National Road Association (SNRA) and International Testing. The first results of 7 crash-tested super-minis were released publicly to the media in early 1997. Hobbs was the first Chairman of the Technical Working Group and he later became Secretary General until his retirement in 2007.

Personal life

Hobbs continues to provide consultancy on road and vehicle safety issues, as well as providing advice to the media. He is a motor sport enthusiast. Since 1974, he has been married to Jacqueline, a retired teacher. Their adopted son died in 2002. Adrian and Jackie live together in Berkshire, England.

Selected publications

• Hobbs, C A et al, “Classification of Injury Severity by Length of Stay in Hospital,” (1979), TRRL Laboratory Report 871, Crowthorne.
• Lowne, R W et al, (1979), “The Need for a Force Measuring Dummy in Side Impact Testing,” Proceedings of the Society of Automotive Engineers Passenger Car Meeting, Dearborn.
• Hobbs, Adrian, (2000), “Protecting People in Crashes- Making Cars Safer,” Best in Europe 2000 Road Safety Conference, European Transport Safety Council, Brussels.
• Hobbs, Adrian et al, (2001), “Priorities for EU Motor Vehicle Safety Design,” European Transport Safety Council, Brussels.
• Hobbs, C A, (2005), “Creating A Market For Safety – 10 Years of Euro NCAP,” The European New Car Assessment Programme, Brussels.

References

1. Gerondeau, C et al, (1992) “Qualitative Analysis of the System to Campaign against Road Accidents,” World Bank - European Commission, New York and Brussels.
2. Hobbs, C A et al, (1993), “Road Traffic Accidents in Morocco,” World Health Organization, Copenhagen.
3. Steering Committee For Statistical Indicators For Accidents, (1985), “Information and Guidelines on the Use of The Basic Data Set on Accidents,” World Health Organization, Copenhagen.
4. Steering Committee For Statistical Indicators For Accidents, (1987), “A Basic Data Set and Guidelines for Its Use,” World Health Organization, Copenhagen.
5. Harvey, Chris, (28 July 1974) “Crash course to cut accidents,” Sunday Times, London.
6. Spicer, Roy, (30 November 1975) “There's a Boffin in Your Back Seat,” Sunday Mirror, London.
7. Hobbs, C A, (1976) “Brake Defects in Cars,” Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Conference on “Braking of Road Vehicles,” Loughborough.
8. Hobbs, C A, (1980), “Car Occupant Injury Patterns And Mechanisms,” Proceedings of the Eighth International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles, Wolfsburg.
9. Mills, P J, and C A Hobbs, (1984).”The Probability Of Injury To Car Occupants In Frontal And Side Impacts,” Proceedings of the 28th Stapp Car Crash Conference, Chicago.
10. Hobbs, C A. (1991) “The Need For Improved Structural Integrity in Frontal Car Impacts,” Proceedings of Thirteenth International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles, Paris.
11. Hobbs, C A, (1978), “The Effectiveness of Seat Belts in Reducing Injuries to Car Occupants,” TRRL Laboratory Report 811, Crowthorne.
12. Timberlake, Lloyd, (10 July 1978), “So fasten your seatbelts,” Jerusalem Post, Israel,.
13. “Recent British study finds seatbelts cut injuries in half,” The Windsor Star, Ontario, (15 November 1978).
14. Timberlake, Lloyd, (14 November 1978) “Seatbelts get more backing in new, rigorous British study,” Edmonton Journal, Alberta,.
15. “Road Traffic (Seat Belts) Bill,” Weekly Hansard, Issue No. 1135 Pg 1793, House of Commons, London, (16 – 22 March 1979).
16. Hobbs, C A et al, (1985), “PSC1 - A Demonstration Car with Improvements for Pedestrian Protection,” Proceedings of the Tenth International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles, Oxford.
17. “Safety Metro unveiled,” Autocar, London, (10 July 1985).
18. Rolfe, Allen, (October 1985) “Safety Car,” Performance Car, London.
19. “Crash,” (1989), Horizon - BBC Television, United Kingdom.
20. “How Safe are our Children,” (1991), World in Action – Granada for Independent Television, United Kingdom.
21. “Speed,” (2000), Panorama – BBC Television, United Kingdom.
22. Hobbs, C A et al, (1997), “Progress Towards Improving Car Occupant Protection in Frontal Impacts,” Proceedings of the Eleventh International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles, Washington.
23. Hobbs, C A et al, (1987) “Development of the European Side Impact Test Procedure and Related Vehicle Improvements.” Proceedings of the Eleventh International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles, Washington.
24. “Trapped: can door beams kill?,” Top Gear, London, (October 1993).
25. “Side impact bars don't help says Renault safety chief,” The Sunday Times, London, (16 July 1994).
26. Carter, Matthew, (23 July 1994), “The side-effects of trying to bar accidents,” The Weekend Telegraph, London.
27. “Experts call for door beam rethink,” Complete Car, London, (August 1994).
28. Oxford, Bob, (14 October 1994) “Row erupts over effectiveness of side impact bars,” Fleet News, Peterborough.
29. Johnstone, Helen, (19 October 1994), “Side impact bars facing a broadside of criticism,” The Daily Telegraph - The Motor Show, London.
30. “Lateral Thinking,” Complete Car, London, (December 1994).
31. Hiday, Jeffrey, (12 February 1995), “Studies question side impact door beams,” The Providence Sunday Journal, Providence, Rhode Island.
32. Hobbs, C A and M G Langdon. (1988), “Thoracic Impact and Injury in Side Impact Accidents,” Proceedings of the 1988 International Conference on The Biomechanics of Impacts, IRCOBI” Bergisch Gladbach.
33. Hobbs, C A, (1989), “The Influence of Car Structures and Padding on Side Impact Injuries,” Proceedings of the Twelfth International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles, Gothenburg.
34. Hamer, Mike, (22 October 1987), “Euro Sid sets the standard on car safety,” New Scientist, London.
35. Hobbs, C A, (1995), “Dispelling the Misconceptions about Side Impact Protection,” Advances in Occupant Protection Technologies for the Mid-Nineties (SP-1077) SAE International Congress and Exposition, Detroit.
36. Hobbs, C A, (1990), “Essential Requirements for an Effective Full Scale Frontal Impact Test – SAE 900410. SAE International Congress and Exposition, Detroit.
37. Hobbs, C A, (1992), “The Need for a Deformable Impact Test Surface for Frontal Impact Testing.” Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers - Seminar on Frontal Impact Testing, London.
38. Hobbs, C A, And D A Williams, (1994), “The Development of the Frontal Offset Deformable Barrier Test,” Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, Munich.
39. Hobbs, C A, (1995), “The Rationale and Development of the Offset Deformable Frontal Impact Test Procedure,” Issues in Automotive Safety Technology: Offset Frontal Crashes, Airbags, and Belt Restraint Effectiveness (SP-1072), SAE International Congress and Exposition, Detroit.
40. Baker, Alan, (June/July 1990) “Vehicle Safety ’90,” Automotive Engineer, The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London.
41. Steven, Catherine, (18 October 1991), “It's no accident,” The Guardian, London.
42. Shelley, Tom, (April 1993), “Real accidents make safer cars,” Eureka, Dartford.
43. Baker, Alan, (June/July 1993). “Softer barriers for impact testing,” Automotive Engineer, The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London.
44. “Are we being sold a dummy?,” Complete Car, London, (November 1994).
45. Thomas, James, (22 March 1995), “Car makers face crash test U-turn,” Autocar, London.
46. Wolmar, Christian, (20 March 1995), “Motorists demand stricter car tests,” The Independent, London.
47. Bailey, Eric, (25 March 1995), “EU car crash tests ‘are too easy to pass’,” The Daily Telegraph, London.
48. Nelson, Chris, (9 June 1995), “Desktops will do fine if it comes to the crunch,” The Daily Telegraph, London.
49. “Safety secrets: the hidden killer,” What Car?, London, (February 1996).
50. “Have our Cars Really Become Safer,” (1 March 1993), Watchdog – BBC Television, United Kingdom.
51. “The Driven Man – Rowan Atkinson,” (1990), Central Independent Television, United Kingdom.
52. “J G Ballard – Crash,” (1991), Bookmark – BBC Television, United Kingdom.
53. Hobbs, C A et al, (1996), “Compatibility of Cars in Frontal and Side Impact,” Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, Melbourne.
54. Wykes, N J et al (1998) “Compatibility Requirements for Cars in Frontal and Side Impact,” Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, Windsor.
55. Edwards, M et al, (2000), “Compatibility – The essential requirements for cars in frontal impact,” Vehicle Safety 2000 Conference, The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London.
56. Edwards, M et al, (2001), “The essential requirements for cars in frontal impact,” Proceedings of the Seventeenth International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, Amsterdam.
57. Bradsher, Keith, (24 September 1997), “A Deadly Highway Mismatch Ignored,” The New York Times.
58. Hobbs, C A, (1996), “United Kingdom - New Car Assessment Programme (UK-NCAP),” Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, Melbourne.
59. Hobbs, C A, and P J McDonough, (1998), “Development of the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP),” Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, Windsor.
60. “How Safe is Your Car,” (14 October 1997), First Edition – Carlton Television, United Kingdom.
61. Eason, Kevin, (25 March 1995), “Safety ‘scandal’ puts hundreds of lives at risk,” The Times – Car 95, London.
62. “Berger – Safety ”, (25 March 1995), Eurosport News, Brussels.
63. Murray, Bob, (8 February 1997), “The man who must carry on crashing,” The Daily Telegraph - Motoring, London.
64. “Carmakers work to meet denounced test standard,” Professional Engineer, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London, (12 February 1997).
65. Evans, John, (12 February 1997), “Row erupts over NCAP testing,” Autocar, London.
66. Weir, Andrew, (November 1998), “This Crash Could Save Your Life,” Reader's Digest, London.
67. Foley, Vivian, (1999), “Is Your Car Safe?,” Vision Publications, Cork, .
68. “Safety Award for TRL,” (15 November 1986), Motor, London.
69. “Awards for Engineering Excellence”, (1998), 16th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, Windsor.
70. Baker, Alan, (February 1999), “King of Crashes,” Automotive Engineer, London.
71. “2004 Bertil Aldman Award,” (2004), International Research Council on Biokinetics of Impacts, Graz.
72. Bremner, Richard et al, (25 May 2004), “The Motor Industry's 100 Most Influential Britons,: Autocar, London.
73. “BusinessCar Power list 2007,” BusinessCar, Foots Cray, (5 September 2007).
74. “Birthday Honours List – United Kingdom,” (13 June 2008), The London Gazette, London.
75. “Honours,” (14 June 2008), The Times, London.
76. “Adrian Hobbs – Mr Euro NCAP,” (Winter 2012), Advanced Driving - The Institute of Advanced Motorists, London.
77. “Individual Achievement – Safety Awards 2013,” (30 May 2013), Global NCAP Annual Meeting, Seoul.

Notes and References

1. https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/1977-04-26/debates/588cef1d-b141-4b63-b497-24dd5270347e/RoadTraffic(SeatBelts)BillHl