Volvo Dropped Vehicles From A Crane For Extreme Crash Testing

A new video has surfaced that shows Volvo attaching one of its XC 40 SUVs, and other cars, to a crane. These vehicles are connected to the crane and then hoisted 30 meters into the air. Once in the air, the SUV was released where it plummets to the ground smashing hood first into steel plates on the ground.

The crash damage is massive to the vehicles. This test isn't meant to certify the vehicle for crash safety. The crashes are to help extraction specialists to hone lifesaving skills. To allow the rescue workers to prepare for any crash scenario, the vehicles dropped from the crane represent some of the most severe crashes.

By dropping the vehicles from such height, enough damage was created to adequately simulate damage found in accidents such as very high-speed single-car wrecks or accidents where trucks impacted vehicles at high speeds. Volvo says that people inside the car are likely to be in critical condition in this type of real-world impact.

The priority is to get them out of the vehicle as quickly as possible into the hospital. The rescuers use hydraulic rescue tools, typically called the "jaws of life." Volvo has worked with Swedish rescue services for many years. It says that the rescue workers and it did have the same goal- to make safer roads.

By providing new vehicles for the rescue workers to practice on, they can perfect their techniques on modern cars using modern steel. That is crucial as vehicles built 15 years ago would have much weaker bodies that would be much easier to perform an extraction on. Volvo destroyed a total of 10 different vehicle models; all dropped from the crane several times. The video is definitely worth a watch.