Mechanic’s Invention Aims to Mitigate Fire-Related Accident Injuries

A new Australian invention demonstrates the potential to reduce the risk of fire-related death and injury in motor vehicle accidents by as much as 80%.

The Vehicle Safety Shutdown (VSS) system incorporates two devices acting together to prevent fuel from igniting in high-impact collisions.

Mechanic John Quee drew on 45 years of experience in the motor-vehicle industry to develop the VSS prototype, which is short-listed in Australia for this year’s Victorian Innovation Center Ltd. (INNOVIC) Next Big Thing Award.

The VSS consists of two devices – the Fuel Shutoff Valve (FSV) and the Battery Isolation Unit (BIU). Both are activated by crash-sensor systems.

Quee says that within milliseconds of an impact, the FSV is activated; this prevents pressurized fuel from spraying everywhere, if or when the fuel system becomes compromised.

Milliseconds later, the BIU is activated to sever the power supply from the battery and the vehicle’s ignition system.

Both devices respond in less than five milliseconds – 10 times quicker than the time it takes for an airbag to fully deploy – and are engaged regardless of where the vehicle is impacted. The system can be reused once it has been recharged and reset.

Quee says that unlike other recent safety-shutdown designs, the VSS is cost-effective to manufacture commercially, has global applications, and could be installed in cars, trucks and light planes. The VSS also can be retrofitted to older model vehicles, he says.

Quee, who works in Nyngan in the heart of New South Wales, sees the VSS as one of the most significant recent advances in motor vehicle safety technology, with the potential to save thousands of people every year from death and serious fire-related injuries.

“There are two elements required to establish a vehicle fire – the fuel and some form of ignition that ignites the fuel,” Quee says. “In an accident, if you can eliminate either one, then you have successfully prevented a vehicle fire and saved lives.

“For years, manufacturers have focused their attention on preventing fuel from leaking in a crash, but they haven’t addressed the ignition source with as much concern. The VSS is the first to greatly reduce the risk of impact-related fire because it addresses both components.”

In the type of accident where the fuel tank is ruptured and there is gasoline everywhere, Quee says the FSV will be of no value – but there remains an excellent chance a fire will be averted because the BIU will shut down the entire vehicle electrical system, preventing the possibility of any sparks to ignite the spilled fuel.