Congressman Brian Higgins facilitated a meeting between Calspan Corporation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in Washington, DC for a discussion about the local company’s role in national transportation safety efforts.
One of the stated goals of NHTSA is to demonstrate improved capability of collision avoidance systems.
“A great deal of research and testing has gone into how a vehicle withstands a crash, but today’s technology provides new opportunities to determine how we can prevent accidents from happening in the first place,” said Higgins. “Calspan has a long history as a transportation safety innovator and we believe there is a unique opportunity for this local company to lead the way in the future of transportation safety.”
“Calspan feels it is uniquely positioned to help the USDOT and industries at large with active safety and autonomous vehicles because we have a strong heritage in those very things on the aerospace side of the business,” said Calspan CEO and Co-Owner Lou Knotts.
Last fall the USDOT announced a five-year $40 million contract with Calspan. Under this contract Calspan was chosen to operate the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) Zone Center 1 for the U.S. Department of Transportation. NASS was established in 1979 as a nationwide effort to reduce motor vehicle crashes, injuries and deaths on our highways.
Calspan’s Crash Data Research Center is recognized worldwide for its work investigating vehicle preparedness in accident situation with on-site testing of air bags, tires and automobiles in crash simulations. After a recent rash of vehicle collisions into local buildings last year, Calspan was called in to investigate and collect data. Most recently, the company expressed interest in expanding to create a state of the art Transportation Safety Campus in Western New York.
Calspan is headquartered in Cheektowaga, NY. Calspan engineers developed the first crash test dummy in 1948 and the automobile seatbelt in 1951.
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