In 2006, Jaguar received the Traffic Safety Achievement Award in the Automaker Category from the World Traffic Safety Symposium for the new Jaguar XK's Pedestrian Impact Safety System.
The World Traffic Safety Symposium recognizes organizations and individuals that are creating a safer environment for motorists and pedestrians. The winners are selected by the Symposium's Advisory Committee, which is comprised of auto safety experts from government agencies, educational institutions and private foundations, as well as individuals with a passion for the advancement of traffic safety.
Jaguar's award was due in large part to the 2006 XK's pyrotechnic deployable bonnet system – an all-new, industry-leading feature that was created to meet Phase One of the new European safety legislation on pedestrian safety and vehicle fronts.
The European standards are designed to help mitigate the severity of injuries to pedestrians in traffic accidents. In the 1980s, researchers at NHTSA in the United States observed a potential link between under-hood clearance and risk of head injury to pedestrians. In the unfortunate event of a pedestrian impact, the XK's unique deployable hood automatically "pops up" a few inches, to increase the space between the engine and the hood. This helps to isolate the pedestrian from hard points in the engine compartment and provides room for the hood to deform upon head impact, thus absorbing impact energy and helping to reduce head injury risk. The popping action takes place in a fraction of the time it takes to blink an eye. An advanced sensing system is mounted in the front bumper to help discriminate between a pedestrian collision and any other possible front-end collision.
In addition to this most recent award, the Jaguar XK was awarded the Engineering and Technology Award in December 2005 at the prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards in London. Ford continues to play an active role with other industry partners in working with the European Commission to define workable requirements for Phase 2 of the legislation, which is projected to be effective in 2010.
