Volvo Drops Cars From 30-Meter Tall Crane To Help Save Your Life

Swedish automotive company Volvo, which is known for its excellence in safety, has performed a new crash test under its Safety Center division to help rescue services save lives.

In the extreme demonstration, Volvo suspends and then drops ten cars from a 30-meter tall crane to simulate some of the most dangerous real-life crash scenarios, such as head-on collisions, side-hits, or impacts with trucks.

The cars are damaged to such a degree that rescue services would need to act within the “golden hour” — an hour-long period in which potentially critically injured passengers would need to be rescued from the car and taken to hospital. Håkan Gustafson, a senior investigator with the Volvo Cars Traffic Accident Research Team said, “We have been working closely together with the Swedish rescue services for many years… That is because we have the same goal: to have safer roads for all. We hope no one ever needs to experience the most severe accidents, but not all accidents can be avoided. So it is vital there are methods to help save lives when the most severe accidents do happen.”

Volvo performed this experiment because the usual training method for rescue services is, as it argues, outdated. Cars are much better built now than those often used by rescue services in scrap yards (which can be 20-years-old on average), especially Volvo’s models as they are made with very strong steel. The difference can be life or death, so rescue services and Volvo are working on new methods and extrication techniques to make sure people can be saved, especially in critical situations.

For more automotive achievements, check out BMW’s electric wingsuit.