Press Release

Simula Announces NHTSA Rollover Tests of its Inflatable Tubular Structure

10/21/96

New Details On Simula's Rollover Testing Program With NHTSA Ford
Explorer Will be First Vehicle Tested in Full-Scale Rollover Crash
Tests

PHOENIX, Oct. 17 -- Simula, Inc. announced
today that in a project kick-off meeting held Wednesday at the
U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, additional details
regarding its grant and cooperative research agreement with the
National Highway Safety Administration ("NHTSA") were disclosed. It
was previously announced that the cooperative arrangement will study
the effectiveness of Simula's Inflatable Tubular Structure ("ITS") in
providing occupant protection in rollover accidents. NHTSA is the
chief auto safety regulatory agency in the U.S.

Simula announced that sport utility vehicles will be utilized in full
scale crash and rollover tests, commencing with the Ford
Explorer. Sports utility vehicles have been identified as having a
high propensity for instability and rollover. In addition to its
side-impact head protection for which it was designed, computer
simulations of the ITS have shown it to be effective in providing
rollover protection, secondary impact protection, and protection
against ejection from vehicles. The NHTSA crash tests to be performed
at its Ohio test facility will provide further data regarding these
findings.

Simula also announced that 1996 figures released by the Transportation
Research Board indicate that rollover is the third leading category of
serious accidents in this country and the second leading cause of
fatalities. In most serious cases there is also ejection from the
vehicle. The Board says that light trucks and utility vehicles are the
most common vehicles involved in rollovers.

At the meeting, NHTSA proposed that it will perform a societal cost-
benefit analysis of the ITS system. Such studies typically are a
precursor to new regulations promulgated by federal agencies. Under
this process, NHTSA will use available statistics to determine the
societal loss in dollars for injuries and fatalities in rollover
accidents, calculate the projected costs of ITS-like systems in
vehicles, and determine the savings to society from the use of such
devices. To date, NHTSA and the auto industry have studied a number of
solutions, but none have been determined to be cost-effective. Simula
believes that the ITS may be the first cost-efficient solution to
provide protection in rollover situations, and to date, the ITS is the
only commercially available system of its type.

According to Simula's President Don Townsend, "We believe our work
with NHTSA on side-impact and rollover is evidence of our corporate
strategy to develop technologies that can solve problems and create
new markets. Simula believes that it can continue to work with federal
agencies, such as NHTSA, to help regulators develop performance
criteria for safety systems. These efforts will have benefits both for
society in general, as well as for the company and its shareholders,"
said Townsend.

Simula, based in Phoenix, is an acknowledged world leader in
transportation safety and energy absorption technology. Its principal
product lines are aircraft, rail and mass transit seating systems,
advanced lightweight composite structures, and protective systems,
including airbags, inflatable restraints and ballistic armor.