Adrian Hobbs

Charles Adrian Hobbs (born January 1946, in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, UK) is a safety expert in vehicle crashworthiness with a background in accident and injury investigation, and analysis.
As an engineer and later as Honorary Chief Research Scientist, Hobbs has been involved in the UK Government’s programme of Crash Injury Research for nearly 30 years. A pioneer in his field, key highlights of his career include undertaking the 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 (1), the World Health Organization, the European Commission and Central European and North African countries on transport safety and the provision of emergency services (2-4).
Safety career.
Hobbs joined the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) in 1972 as a Scientific Officer. For two years he was involved in investigating accident causation – when the police were called to an accident, so was Hobbs. He spent time investigating the contributing factors to an accident. Was it the road user, vehicle, road or the surrounding environment? (5,6) In 1976 he reported on his analysis of brake defects and their contribution to accidents (7).
In 1974, his research attention turned to the study of car occupant injuries. He analysed and reported on the direct connection between the accident, resulting injuries, their causes and the effectiveness of safety features. He gathered medical data, inspected cars and sent questionnaires. His conclusions were clear: intrusion into the passenger compartment of the vehicle during a frontal impact accident played a very major role in causing injuries. (8-10)
As a result of this research, he realised how effective wearing a seat belt was in preventing serious injury to a vehicle’s occupant. In 1978, Adrian published a comprehensive study of the life-saving potential of seat belt wearing.(11-14) This study helped lead to the passing of the mandatory seat belt wearing legislation in the UK, which came into force on 31 January 1983. (15)
Hobbs then switched his research focus to vehicle safety and, in 1985, he designed a demonstration Pedestrian Safety Car (based on a Mini Metro). (16-21) He later modified this Pedestrian Safety Car to incorporate current thinking in Frontal and Side impact protection. (22,23) 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. (24-31) 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. Although much weaker than the modified Metro, this car performed better. Amazed, Hobbs set out to find out why and to truly understand the side impact injury process. He discovered that a lighter door rather than a heavier 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 also concluded, had to be very soft to help spread the load and cushion the impact. (32-35) These conclusions and research directly contributed to the development of the European Side Impact Directive.
In the early 1990s, Hobbs identified the 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. (36-52). Hobbs's frontal ODB test was adopted, in Europe and elsewhere, for both legislation and consumer test programmes.
With this research under his belt, Hobbs took on the study of Compatibility, the science of how cars could work together to minimise injuries to the occupants of both vehicles. (53-57) 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 an active 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. The intention was that the test speed would later be increased to 60 km/h. This was at a European Parliament Inter-group meeting, with Max Mosley of the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA) as chairman. Industry was there to oppose – their concern was that cars could not be built to withstand the speeds proposed. Yet Max Mosley, profoundly moved by the recent death of Ayrton Senna on the race track, developed an increased interest in reducing the road accident injury toll. The death of a racing driver had spurred on the cause to improve car safety for the public and to prevent millions of deaths on European roads.
A new consumer information programme.
Meanwhile, back 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. His reason for a consumer-based information car-testing programme was clear. He cited the New Car Assessment Programme in the US that had had a more significant effect on changing car design than any US legislative test. He also cited the magazine Auto Motor und Sport and the ADAC, in Germany, whose published car crash tests results were already influencing how manufacturers designed their cars, as they endeavoured to obtain good ratings in the published tests.
The Department of Transport agreed to go ahead with the proposal and initiated the first phase of tests and assessments. (58-60) Following further discussions with the European Commission, in Brussels, (61,62) Hobbs mentioned the proposal to Max Mosley. Mosley was inspired to help and make Hobbs’s wish for a Europe wide consumer test programme a reality. 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.
Euro NCAP (the European New Car Assessment Programme) is now an established consumer-testing programme that assesses and publishes the safety of new cars and provides valuable safety information to consumers. Thousands of crash-tested cars later and the award of thousands of stars to industry, Euro NCAP has led to the establishment of other similar consumer programmes across the world and has contributed greatly to the safety of cars available on the European market.
Yet it all began with Hobbs’s persistence and a group of dedicated safety pioneers. The inaugural meeting of Euro NCAP was held in December 1996 with only a few members: the UK Department of Transport, the FIA, the Swedish National Road Association (SNRA) and International Testing. The very first results of 7 crash-tested super-minis were released publicly to the media in early 1997, much to the consternation of industry. (63-67)
Hobbs was the first Chairman of the Technical Working Group and he later became Secretary General until his retirement in 2007.
Euro NCAP’s team of engineers and labs now carry out a frontal, side impact and pedestrian protection test as well as assessments on child protection and on the range of technologies existing within the car. Tests are carried out on all vehicles from super-minis to SUVs to the latest hybrids and petrol engines, resulting in a star rating with a maximum award of 5 stars. Special awards are also given to car makers with innovative technologies.
Safety achievements and developments in the industry, as a direct result of the work of Euro NCAP, have included the following:
For frontal impact protection: improved car structures limiting passenger compartment intrusion, so providing space for the restraints to operate without the occupants impacting the car’s interior, improved seat belts with pre-tensioners and load limiters, improved multi stage frontal airbags, removal of hazards in the knee impact area and knee protecting air bags.
For side impact protection: improved car side structures with airbags to protect the head, chest, abdomen and pelvis, and pole impact protection.
Additional achievements have been: car fronts with improved pedestrian protection, improved child occupant protection, provision of effective reminders to wear seat belts, promotion and greater introduction of technologies such as electronic stability controls, autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warnings.
Personal life.
Hobbs continues to provide consultancy on road and vehicle safety issues and provides advice to the media. He is a motor sport enthusiast having been a rally driver in his youth. Since retirement, he has become involved in supporting a number of local and national organisations. Since 1974, he has been married to Jacqueline, a retired teacher with a keen focus on special needs. Their adopted son Philip died in 2002, aged 28. Adrian and Jackie live together in Berkshire.
References.
Other selected publications