Dashboard - Padding and Safety

Padding and Safety

In 1937, Chrysler, Dodge, DeSoto, and Plymoth cars came with a safety dashboard that was flat, raised above knee height, and had all the controls mounted flush.

Padded dashboards were advocated in the 1930s by car safety pioneer Claire L. Straith. In 1947, the Tucker Torpedo became the first car with a padded dashboard.

One of the safety enhancements of the 1970s was the widespread adoption of padded dashboards. The padding is commonly polyurethane foam, while the surface is commonly either polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or leather in the case of luxury models.

In the early and mid 1990s, airbags became a standard feature of steering wheels and dashboards.