Passive safety
Front airbags:
These are dual-stage airbags for the driver and passenger, controlled by an electronic control unit on the central console. It uses a series of sensors to determine the severity of the collision and controls how quickly the airbags inflate accordingly.
The airbags are fitted with an electronic diagnostic component monitoring system. The components are tested by a processor to ensure that they operate correctly. The airbags are not activated in the event of low-speed collisions (as in the case of a minor bump when parking), or in the event of abrupt movements not caused by a collision (such as hitting a pot-hole in the road at speed). The front passenger airbag can be de-activated manually, by turning the switch on the extreme right-hand side of the dashboard using the ignition key, making it possible to fit a child seat to the front seat, facing opposite the direction of travel.
Side bags:
In addition, to provide better protection for the thorax and pelvis area of front seat occupants, in the event of a side-on collision, Alfa Romeo cars are fitted with side airbags.
This position ensures the best possible protection for occupants, regardless of their size, position and the position of the seat. For geometric reasons, it is also possible to use airbags with a capacity of about a dozen litres, which is less than would be needed for an airbag offering the same degree of protection but located in the door. The sensors controlling the activation of these airbags are located in the central pillars. In the event of an accident, they detect a lateral acceleration and send the signal to the electronic control unit responsible the front airbags and seat pre-tensioners. There is integrated control of all the systems, for total, progressive protection of the occupants.
Window bags
Alfa Romeo cars are equipped with window-bags that drop down along the windows to protect occupants’ heads in the event of a side-on collision; they inflate quickly, and are not invasive for passengers.
They open from the top down, a movement that prevents secondary injuries being caused to occupants’ arms. They also provide effective protection for the heads of both front and rear seat passengers, because they extend the entire length of the window, and also offer protection in the event of the car overturning. The two airbags (one on either side of the car) are folded away into compartments along the frame of the roof. When required, the covers open, allowing the airbags to inflate and drop downwards.
Knee bags:
Available on the 159: these airbags are located under the dashboard, and protect the driver’s knees (the passenger knee bag is available on request), by preventing the knees from striking the dashboard, thus helping to achieve the very highest safety standards.
Airbags
When safety belts are not fastened, the risk of serious injury is much greater than for passengers who belt up, even in minor collisions. Special safety-belt fastening sensors in the buckles of the front seats and a pressure sensor in the foam seat cushion enable the control unit to adapt airbag activation and prevent pre-tensioner activation depending on whether seats are occupied or not. Used on the front seats, the pre-tensioners feature a device that causes the fixed seat buckle to which the safety belt is fastened to move backwards, drawing the safety belt closer around the body of the occupant.
Rear seat safety-belt fastening sensors
Available on the 159 – a mechanism designed to prevent driver leg injury in a frontal crash.
Collapsible pedal assembly
The front seats feature an anti-whiplash mechanism that in the event of an impact from the rear causes the head restraint behind the occupant’s neck to move forward, thus preventing the head from being violently thrown backwards and limiting injury to the head and neck caused by whiplash.
Anti-whiplash head restraint
The European New Car Assessment Programme (EuroNCAP) defines methods for assessing the passive (secondary) safety of new cars through the introduction and use of specific testing protocols, in order to be able to offer the consumer standard information. EuroNCAP was founded in 1995 and is backed by the European Union and all the major car manufacturers. EuroNCAP publishes safety reports giving cars a rating, from 1-star to 5-star, based on the results of a series of crash tests: head-on, side-on, against a post and against pedestrians. The head-on crash tests are conducted at a speed of 64 km/hr against a deformable barrier. The side-on tests are conducted at a speed of 50 km/hr, while tests against a post are done at a speed of 29 km/hr, and against artificial pedestrians at 40 km/hr.
At its launch in 2005, the Alfa 159 achieved a full 5-star rating, the maximum EuroNcap rating possible.
EURO NCAP
The same system of sensors that controls the airbags also controls activation of the safety belt pre-tensioners. The pre-tensioners are designed to take up the slack in the safety belt and draw it around the occupant in the very early moments of a collision, to reduce the movement of the occupant around the cabin caused by the impact. The pre-tensioner on the buckle also helps prevent movement of the pelvis by limiting forward movement, thus reducing the risk of leg injuries.
Safety belt pre-tensioners
Safety belts are also fitted with degressive load limiters, which reduce the force applied when restraining the seat occupant in the event of a collision. This, together with the airbag system, provides more effective protection for the occupant.
The amount of force applied by the load limiters considerably reduces the risk of broken shoulders and ribs, even for people with fragile bones (such as the elderly).
Degressive load limiter
On the right (or left for right-hand drive cars) of the dashboard, there is a switch for deactivating the passenger airbag, enabling a child seat to be fitted on the front seat facing away from the direction of travel. When the airbag is deactivated, an indicator light on the instrument panel comes on. Deactivation is only possible when the car is stationary.
Manual airbag deactivation switch
Front seats
The seat structure has been designed to assist and complement the protection offered by the occupant protection system. Sturdy steel elements positioned under the front seat cushions provide the correct support for the occupant in the event of a head-on collision, and minimise seat deformation in side-on collisions. A special part at the front of the seat prevents passengers from sliding forward under the safety belt, ensuring the so-called ‘anti-submarining’ effect. The sturdy hinge between the seat back and the base of the seat provides the best possible occupant restraint in the event of low-speed collisions from the rear, and in combination with special crumple zones on the side of the car, help to gradually absorb and disperse the impact energy of high-speed rear collisions.
Rear seats
The frame of the seatback is made of sturdy metallic components that are able to withstand with minor deformations the forces generated by a frontal crash when there are people sitting in the back and/or when heavy luggage in the trunk is propelled forcefully against the seatbacks. The front portion of the seat cushion is slightly raised and reinforced to prevent submarining.
Seats
The rear seat is generally equipped with two pairs of ISOFIX fittings for child seats. These types of fitting have two distinctive features: the standard size of the fittings and the distance between them, which means that the child seat can also be used on any other type of car.
ISOFIX fittings
Generally, the energy generated by a head-on collision or a collision from the rear is absorbed by the vehicle’s load lines, consisting of front and rear struts, the engine support chassis, and under-floor and lateral long members. The continuity of these three elements throughout the length of the car guarantees gradual, progressive deformation of the body according to the seriousness of the impact. In addition, the joints between the struts and the engine support chassis channel the energy load towards the deformable components.
The high-strength materials and different thickness used for the front and rear long members are designed to withstand the forces generated by the front and rear cross-members in the event of a low-speed collision without being damaged, while at the same time they enable all the energy from high-speed impacts to be absorbed without any deformation to the passenger cabin.
Load lines
The early crash sensor, placed near the bonnet latch, enables the main electronic control unit to activate the airbags earlier than a traditional system, eliminating the risk of minor injuries resulting from the inflation of the airbag, which is completed even before the occupant begins their forward movement towards the steering wheel or dashboard. It also reduces sensitivity to under-body knocks for which the airbags are not needed.
