Speeding is one of the main causes of road accidents in Spain. According to data from the Directorate General for Traffic (DGT), one in five traffic accidents with victims can be directly related to excessive or inappropriate speed. When we drive too fast, both the reaction and braking distance increase. At higher speed, we need more meters to stop the vehicle.
Driving in this way causes a decrease in the visual field. That is, the so-called tunnel effect. Also, when carried out for prolonged periods, it accelerates the appearance of fatigue at the wheel. However, the consequences of having an accident are more serious when driving with excess speed. And this happens regardless of whether the main cause of the accident is speed or not.
The physical and material damages that originate in a traffic accident are closely related to the kinetic energy of the vehicle involved. In fact, according to the DGT, a collision at 50 km/h is equivalent to falling from a third floor, while a crash at 120 km/h is equivalent to falling from the 14th floor. At 180 km/h it would mean falling from the ground 36.
With the passage of time, the safety of automobiles has improved a lot. The advance has been especially noticeable in recent years, when technology has helped develop a number of security systems, such as ADAS. Proof of this is that older vehicles are more dangerous than new ones: the risk of dying in an accident with an old vehicle (15 years or more) is doubled compared to a new one (less than 5 years old), according to Traffic.
However, there are still circumstances where a crash is difficult to prevent, even for the best vehicles, and fatal repercussions are inevitable. This is the case of frontal collisions at high speeds, very critical due to the angle and force of the impact that the cars and the victims receive.
In this line, it is likely that we have ever wondered what would happen if we collided with our car when we are pressing the accelerator more than necessary. Well, those responsible for the Vilebrequin Youtube channel have provided a very graphic answer to this question. The French team decided to carry out a crash test at -nothing more and nothing less- 150 km/h. And the results are terrifying.
The objective was to demonstrate how a car would look, specifically a BMW 5 Series Touring, after impacting at that speed. As if that were not enough, the surface chosen for the impact was a wall made up of concrete walls, a significantly harder material than a conventional guardrail, which further aggravates the collision.
In order to make the test a reality, they decided to equip the car with a remote control system and drive it remotely on an airport runway. After reaching 150 km/h, the car crashes violently, registering an impressive 64 G deceleration. The result is terrifying. The BMW is twisted and completely destroyed, making it easy to predict what the outcome would be if there were occupants inside the vehicle.
This crash test is similar to those carried out by programs dedicated to assessing the performance of cars in the safety section. In Europe, the most prestigious organization is Euro NCAP, known by many thanks to the spectacular images that show the state in which cars remain after being subjected to different types of impacts.
However, the tests carried out by this body to analyze the consequences of a frontal collision occur at a speed three times less than that of the video experiment. Thus, the Euro NCAP crashes are carried out at "only" 50 km/h, a third of the speed at which the BMW impacts.
