GM and Saab Used Human Bodies in Crash Tests

gmsaabcrash.jpgThis blew me away at first, but then it does make some sense. What do you think?

According to Swedish car safety specialist Claes Tingvall, GM has wrapped up a multi-year project which used dead human bodies instead of crash dummies. Specifically, the tests were made with Saab automobiles.

Tingvall told the Swedish Newspaper Expressen, that people had donated their bodies for the tests. He said the bodies aided researcher in better design of crash dummies, and, of course, see first-hand injuries sustained by human bodies in car accidents.

The article, in the English language website, The Local, says neither Saab or GM has acknowledged using human cadavers in any tests.

A Saab spokesperson, Christer Nilsson is quoted in Expressen as saying,

“We are with GM through thick and thin. We conduct our own research and try to find other methods to achieve our results, with the help of computers, for example.”

I might mention the image you see came from the pages of Expressen, and if you go there, I hope your Swedish is good. I found no way to convert to English.

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Comments

  1. bob says:

    don’t eat the swedish meatballs in the saab canteen!

  2. bob says:

    don’t eat the swedish meatballs in the saab canteen!

  3. David says:

    I was just wandering how could they get over the smell.

  4. David says:

    I was just wandering how could they get over the smell.

  5. David says:

    I was just wandering how could they get over the smell.

  6. jpm100 says:

    Been done for a long time and in the US as well.

  7. jpm100 says:

    Been done for a long time and in the US as well.

  8. Yes, it’s been done for a long time. The research into a collisions effect on the human body began with live people stapping themselfes in. The data from thoose early tests, where quite a few people got seriously hurt, tests with human cadavers and live animals, mainly bonobos and chimpansees, laid the foundation for the creation of and modern testing with the now familiar crash test dummy.

    Saw a 1 hour documentary about this on the discovery channel not long ago.

  9. Kendra Holliday says:

    The book “Stiff” by Mary Roach has a whole chapter on this. People donate their body to science all the time – some get used in medical school, some get put on display in a museum, some get used for plastic surgery techniques, some get used as crash test dummies. As for me, I want to donate my organs and then get composted. :)

  10. Yes, it’s been done for a long time. The research into a collisions effect on the human body began with live people stapping themselfes in. The data from thoose early tests, where quite a few people got seriously hurt, tests with human cadavers and live animals, mainly bonobos and chimpansees, laid the foundation for the creation of and modern testing with the now familiar crash test dummy.

    Saw a 1 hour documentary about this on the discovery channel not long ago.

  11. When I was in high school (1989), my French teacher had a French magazine that showed cadavers in car crash testing. So this has been going on for many years, maybe below the radar of most people.

  12. When I was in high school (1989), my French teacher had a French magazine that showed cadavers in car crash testing. So this has been going on for many years, maybe below the radar of most people.

  13. Max says:

    Thanks everyone for the updates, and Jason, it certainly was below my radar.

  14. Max says:

    Thanks everyone for the updates, and Jason, it certainly was below my radar.

  15. Erik Martino says:

    Crash test dummies was designed based on data collected from cadaver tests.

  16. Erik Martino says:

    Crash test dummies was designed based on data collected from cadaver tests.

  17. Logan Carlos says:

    I would put myself in a saab crash test because they are the best safest cars on the road.

  18. Logan Carlos says:

    I would put myself in a saab crash test because they are the best safest cars on the road.

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