Atypical Crash Testing
Making vehicles safer sometimes takes some zany tests
by Ron Moorhead/autoMedia.com

There are many techniques used by auto manufacturers, government agencies and insurance companies to test the crash-worthiness of the vehicles we drive. Real, simulated or virtual, these tests can only give us an indication of how a certain vehicle will react and the extent of possible injuries from those crashes. The general mainstream media, mainly the television magazine programs, have seemingly run these tests into the ground. So, we decided to take a look at the more unusual testing being performed just to see how we are being protected—and to what degree—from the unexpected.

Above and Beyond
Vehicle manufacturers go far beyond the required field of crash testing in the quest to make their vehicles safer. Though a government agency may only require a test of a straight head-on crash, many manufacturers will test a vehicle by crashing it at many different angles.

Porsche for example will test their cars against a side impact similar to a collision with a utility pole. The Insurance Institute performs their much-publicized rear end test with a parking lot pole. General Motors is stretching the norm a bit with their specialized crash-test dummies that simulate a pregnant woman and children of various ages.

Some of the most unusual crash tests are ones that take vehicle accidents into the strange-but-true arena. Far too many major injuries and deaths occur each year because of pedestrians walking in front of a moving vehicle. Honda has just begun an innovative series of testing with a sophisticated dummy that simulates a pedestrian colliding with a motor vehicle. Obviously, when hit by a large piece of steel weighing thousands of pounds, the pedestrian generally comes out the worse for wear. That is precisely why Honda has begun this testing—to see how they can design their vehicles to minimize the injuries sustained by that pedestrian.

Sensitive Dummy
Code-named POLAR II, this dummy is no numb-skull at all. Inside is a complicated and sophisticated collection of components that simulate the human structure. Taking readings from eight different measurement points, POLAR II gives engineers a better understanding of the injuries incurred in the typical vehicle vs. pedestrian accident.

POLAR II is an extremely sophisticated device that incorporates some very unique and complex designs. Because Honda was looking to establish what truly happens in these accidents, they directed their designers to build POLAR II with synthetic ligaments, tendons and bones. At each of the appropriate and sensitive areas they installed sensors that could establish the type and extent of injuries had a real person been struck. Even within the skull, sensors send information to the complex computer bank to analyze any possible brain damage.

Dumb Moose
A number of manufacturers simulate crashes that involve deer, although the most unusual and perhaps the most damaging is Saab's "moose test." Moose are huge and much more prevalent to wandering on the roadways of Sweden and Canada. If a vehicle can survive an impact with one of these behemoths, it certainly would handle a puny little American deer.

Though this crash dummy doesn't truly look like any moose you might see in the wild, it is the closest Saab can get to the real thing without getting in trouble with PETA. Weighing approximately 1,500 pounds, this dummy is hung from cables at the level an average moose might stand. With the "moose" standing in the "road," the test vehicle, which is controlled by cables and set on a rail, is driven into the moose a various speeds.

A typical moose is taller than the front end of a vehicle so the impact usually knocks the animal off its feet, propelling it into the windshield and roof of the vehicle. The findings of this type of crash test result in Saab developing stronger glass, support structures and roofs for their automobiles.

While all this may sound like a drastic and far-flung way of testing vehicles, these unusual and somewhat zany tests are preformed for an excellent reason: to make our vehicles stronger and safer for all of us. Like the case of Honda's POLAR II, vehicle manufacturers are continually looking for new ways to make our world safer for all of us.

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