Hugh DeHaven (3 March 1895 – 13 February 1980) was an American pilot, engineer and

passive safety Automotive safety is the study and practice of design, construction, equipment and regulation to minimize the occurrence and consequences of traffic collisions involving motor vehicles. Road traffic safety more broadly includes roadway design ...

pioneer. DeHaven survived a plane crash while training as a Royal Canadian Flying Corps pilot during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and became interested in improving human survivability in vehicle crashes. He has been called "Father of Crash Survivability".

Early life

DeHaven was born in 1895 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. His father was a steel worker and inventor. He attended

Fessenden School The Fessenden School is an independent day (Pre-K – Grade 9) and boarding school (Grades 5 – 9) for boys, founded in 1903 by Frederick J. Fessenden as a school for the intellectually gifted, and located at 250 Waltham Street, West Newton, M ...

in West Newton,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

from 1906 to 1909 before attending

The Hill School The Hill School (commonly known as The Hill) is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO). ...

in Pottstown, Pennsylvania from 1909 to 1914. Following graduation DeHaven attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

from 1914 to 1915, and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

from 1915 to 1916. He tried to join the

US Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

in 1916, but was rejected. He joined the

Royal Flying Corps Canada The Royal Flying Corps Canada (RFC Canada) was a training organization of the British Royal Flying Corps located in Canada during the First World War. It began operating in 1917. Background As the war progressed, Great Britain found that i ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada.The Hugh DeHaven, PhD (1895-1980) Papers
/ref> While training as a pilot during the

, DeHaven survived a plane crash.Hugh DeHaven
- Dynamic Sciences Inc While recuperating from a ruptured pancreas, he tried to understand why he, and only he, survived that crash, noting that his cockpit was the only one that remained intact.

Early work

Hugh Robertson Dehaven was an inventor of long standing. Between 1924 and 1933 DeHaven filed seven patent applications related to his design of a self-sharpening single edge safety razor. Between approximately 1930 and 1936 his De Haven Razor Corporation marketed a number of different models based upon these designs. DeHaven himself retired in 1933. DeHaven was issued in 1955 for the first three-point seat belt. Early in the 20th century, DeHaven established the ''Aviation Safety and Research Facility'' at

. In 1939, DeHaven recommended the use of

helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...

s and seat belts at a 45° angle in airplanes. He created the inertial reel and the concept of the "delethalized" instrument panel.

Crash Injury Research (CIR)

In 1942, DeHaven started the Crash Injury Research project at Cornell, and published the classic ''Mechanical analysis of survival in falls from heights of fifty to one hundred and fifty feet''. He concluded: ::''The human body can tolerate and expend a force of two hundred times the force of gravity for brief intervals during which the force acts in transverse relation to the long axis of the body. It is reasonable to assume that structural provisions to reduce impact and distribute pressure can enhance survival and modify injury within wide limits in aircraft and automobile accidents.'' In 1950, DeHaven published a report pointing to the second collision and the risk involved in vehicle ejection. He created the concept of "packaging" car occupants. He concluded:Hugh DeHaven - Still Relevant for Rollovers
/ref> In 1953, the project split into two sub-projects, namely the Automobile Crash Injury Research (ACIR) and the Aviation Crash Injury Research (AvCIR) projects.

Flight Safety Foundation The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) is an independent, nonprofit, international organization concerning research, education, advocacy, and communications in the field of aviation safety. FSF brings together aviation professionals from all sectors ...

takes over AvCIR (later Aviation Safety Engineering and Research (AvSER)), and continues the crash survival research started by DeHaven. AvSER is now part of Dynamic Science, Inc.History of Exodyne, Inc

Quotes

::''We will get into anybody’s automobile, go any desired distance at dangerous speeds, without safety belts, without shoulder harness, and with a very minimum of padding or other protection to prevent our heads and bodies from smashing against the inside of a car in an accident. The level of safety which we accept for ourselves, our wives and our children is, therefore, on a par with shipping fragile valuable objects loose inside a container.'' ::''"...people knew more about protecting eggs in transit than they did about protecting human heads"''

References

External links

History of Dynamic Sciences IncHugh DeHaven TimelineList of archived works of Dr DeHaven
{{DEFAULTSORT:DeHaven, Hugh 20th-century American engineers Automotive safety pioneers Aviation inventors Aviation safety pioneers 1895 births 1980 deaths Seat belts The Hill School alumni Fessenden School alumni