DCx NEws: ’05 Dakota meets ’08 safety standards

[hemidakota]

’05 Dakota meets ’08 safety standards

The all-new 2005 Dodge Dakota pickup was designed with the protection of passengers as paramount.

Starting with the hydroformed and fully boxed frame, the all-new Dakota’s structure provides drivers with better handling and accident avoidance, while also offering excellent crash protection. The patented, hydroformed octagonal front rail tips extend the frame 3 inches farther forward of the front wheels to absorb frontal impact forces.

The 2005 Dakota also was specifically designed to meet new federal government requirements for occupant protection and newly mandated fuel system protection requirements in high-speed rear impact crashes. The new, more robust rear section of the Dakota’s frame was designed to meet the anticipated 50 mph offset rear-impact safety standard for fuel system integrity.

[size=1]Side-curtain air bags are optional, and newly designed, rear-seat head restraints are standard on the new Dodge Dakota.[/size]

In addition, the Dakota is 3.7 inches longer, which provides added crush space for improved impact performance. Bumpers were extended slightly to increase their protective capabilities in low-speed impacts.

“The capability of a vehicle structure to provide protection to occupants from injury during an impact is of utmost importance to the Chrysler Group,” said Mike Donoughe, Vice President—Body-on-Frame Product Team. “Safety was built into our all-new Dodge Dakota at every level of development.”

Safety features on the all-new Dakota include a new advanced air bag system that includes an Occupant Classification System (OCS). This system determines whether or not to deploy the front passenger air bag in an impact and, if deployed, how forceful the deployment should be.

Available side-curtain air bags—which include coverage for both rows of seats on Dakota Club Cab® and Quad Cab® models—offer protection for front- and rear-seat occupants. The driver and front-passenger seat belts include pyrotechnic pretensioners that take slack out of the seat belts and pull them around the occupant prior to contact with the air bags.
Designed to maintain optimal positioning in case of an impact, rear seats on the new 2005 Club Cab feature shoulder belts for three rear-seat occupants and fixed-outboard rear-seat head restraints mounted to the roof and cab back. The new Quad Cab also features larger-coverage head restraints that are fixed to the top of the rear seats and rear child seat tether anchors mounted on the cab’s back panel.