A bizarre new Australian ad shows what humans would look like if they could withstand car crashes
Graham has been designed with bodily features that might be present in humans if they had evolved to withstand the forces involved in crashes. Studies have shown that the human body can only cope with impacts at speeds people can reach on their own, unassisted by vehicles.
"People can survive running at full pace into a wall but when you're talking about collisions involving vehicles, the speeds are faster, the forces are greater and the chances of survival are much slimmer," TAC chief executive officer Joe Calafiore said.
"Cars have evolved a lot faster than humans and Graham helps us understand why we need to improve every aspect of our roads system to protect ourselves from our own mistakes."
Mr Calafiore said the science of human vulnerability underpinned Victoria's new Towards Zero approach to road trauma reduction.
"We have to accept people will always make mistakes, but modern vehicle safety technology and safe road design can drastically reduce the forces involved when a crash happens, making them more survivable," Mr Calafiore said.
Royal Melbourne Hospital trauma surgeon Christian Kenfield and Monash University Accident Research Centre crash investigator David Logan worked with Melbourne sculptor Patricia Piccinini to develop Graham.
The installation will be on show at the State Library of Victoria until August 8, before going on a roadshow of regional centres. Victorians can also interact with Graham (oh god why) online.
School curriculum has also been developed to enhance the learning experience for students visiting Graham in person or online.
"Graham is an educational tool that will serve the community for years to come as a reminder of why we need to develop a safer road system that will protect us when things go wrong," Mr Calafiore said.
This article originally appeared on Gizmodo Australia. Read the original here.