Crash tests are an absolutely necessary part of vehicle production. Without them, we’d all be sitting inside potential death traps, their life-saving properties untested and unknown until it is too late. Still, it is a stomach churning experience seeing one, and more so if you happen to love cars. Which, since you’re reading this, you most assuredly do.
The video here come courtesy the folks over at Fifth Gear — the lesser-known yet arguably more informative UK TV show than Top Gear. In it, they get hold of a Ford Focus Mk1, hooked it up to a massive winch at some sort of private crash facility, ringed the massive metal impact wall with cameras, and let ‘er rip. At 120mph. That’s almost 195kmph to you and me!
Why the higher speed? Well, it’s pretty simple really. As modern cars get faster and faster, the need for better impact resistance increases proportionally. With luck on their side, most motorists would walk away from a 60kmph crash, with minor injuries, but, as this video so clearly shows, there’s not much in the way of technology or materials that can come between you and the pearly gates at 200kmph. Trust us, you will be driving a lot safer having watched this video.