We’re all familiar with the basic idea of a crash test. Guys in white coats strap beige dummies into a car, said car is fired at large, immovable object, and high-speed cameras capture entire event in slow-motion for purposes of research/sobering advertising campaign. Simple, right?
Well, not quite. Actual car accidents tend to be a lot messier. Safety technologies kick in, in ways that regular crash tests can’t reveal. Cars run into each other at weird angles. Animals outside the car wander in front of fast-moving vehicles; animals inside the car go flying in unexpected ways.
So the myriad car makers and safety testers of the world have come up with a wide variety of ways to crash-test cars and see how they handle these unexpected factors. The resulting videos range from disturbing to hilarious, but they’re always worth watching.