Safety
Despite the four major updates of the Minor in its 23-year production run, very few actively designed 'safety features' were ever installed. Provisions were made for seat belt fittings in the early 60s, but the rigid structure of the car's monocoque body made it dangerously unabsorbent to impact. For a short time in 1968, the thickness of the steel used in the bonnet and doors was decreased from 1.2mm to 1.0mm to act as a form of 'crumple zone', but as the wings continued to be made of 1.4mm mild steel, the modification was pointless ineffectual and was reversed in 1969 as it increased passenger compartment crush in collisions.
The Mark II model changed from the "lowlight" model in order to comply with Canadian lighting standards, with higher and brighter headlights to increase visibility in fog and during dark Canadian winters.
Australian models, and tourer models made in Britain and exported to Australia, had safety glass windscreens and safety glass windows, to comply with local regulations. Australian models also had blinking indicator lights in addition to the standard trafficator arms on the indigenous Minor 1000.
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Famous quotes containing the word safety:
“There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind.... Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to.”
—Joseph Heller (b. 1923)
“The high sentiments always win in the end, the leaders who offer blood, toil, tears and sweat always get more out of their followers than those who offer safety and a good time. When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“Perhaps having built a barricade when you’re sixteen provides you with a sort of safety rail. If you’ve once taken part in building one, even inadvertently, doesn’t its usually latent image reappear like a warning signal whenever you’re tempted to join the police, or support any manifestation of Law and Order?”
—Jean Genet (1910–1986)