Volvo put its legendary safety rating to the ultimate test – by dropping 10 of its newest models 100 feet from a crane and sending them plunging into the ground.
The testing was done due to the fact that the Swedish brand cannot simulate the highest speed crashes in its conventional crash test facility, and invited rescue workers to practice extrications and hone their methods on the smashed vehicles.
The consequential impacts from the crane drop would be similar to that of a high-speed single vehicle accident or a crash between two vehicles. In such real-life circumstances, the occupants are most likely to be in a critical condition, needing immediate medical care to save their lives using such rescue tools as the 'jaws of life', hydraulic cutters which can boast up to 120,268 pounds of brute cutting force.
Usually, rescue workers get their training from abandoned vehicles from scrapyards, but these cars are often up to two decades old and another world away from today's NCAP safety rating standards. And in terms of steel strength, safety cage construction and overall durability, there is a vast difference between modern cars and those built 15 to 20 years ago. And new Volvos are made of some of the hardest steel found in modern cars.
“We have been working closely together with the Swedish rescue services for many years,” says Håkan Gustafson, a senior investigator with the Volvo Cars Traffic Accident Research Team.
“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.”
“Normally we only crash cars in the laboratory, but this was the first time we dropped them from a crane,' added Gustafson. 'We knew we would see extreme deformations after the test, and we did this to give the rescue team a real challenge to work with.”
Volvo has always been at the forefront of vehicle safety, and, earlier this year, it became the first manufacturer to install 112mph speed limiters to all of its vehicles, an unprecedented step in the automotive world.
Volvo said that all findings from the crashes and the resulting extrication work will be collected in an extensive research report. This report will be made available free of use to rescue workers elsewhere, allowing them to benefit from the findings and further develop their life-saving capabilities.
Keyword: Extreme measures: Volvo drops cars from 100 feet in durability test