Australian road safety campaigners have revealed how we humans would need to evolve if we wanted to stand the very best chance of surviving a car crash.
No, you’re not looking at creature from a horror movie but something else entirely. Created by artist Patricia Piccinini in conjunction with a trauma surgeon and a road crash investigator, ‘Graham’ has been designed to show how our bodies would need to evolve in order to fully withstand the impact of an accident. More importantly, the bizarre creation highlights our own vulnerabilities as road users as part of a campaign by Australia’s The Transport Accident Commission (TAC).
Autonomy of Graham
There are several key features that would protect Graham in a crash:
Skull His skull is huge compared to our humble brain pans and is more helmet-like with crumple zones that would slow down the force of any impact, protecting the brain in the process.
Brain Graham’s brain is protected by extra fluid and ligaments too to help reduce damage if his brain should slam against the inside of his skull wall during an impact.
Face Graham’s face has been flattened, his cheeks pushed out, his ears pulled in and cheeks injected with fatty tissue to better protect against facial injuries during an accident.
Chest He features a rib cage that is not only stronger than our own but also acts more like an airbag than armour to help deal with the effects of a heavy impact; it means all his vital organs are properly protected compared to our own vulnerable innards.
Legs As well as offering a ‘spring-like’ ability to leap away from a dangerous situation, Graham’s legs also feature extra joints to help reduce the chances of a shattered tibia in a serious accident.
While Graham’s appearance is certainly eye opening, there is a very serious message behind his creation as Joe Calafiore, the chief executive of TAC, explains: “We can survive running at full pace into a wall but when you’re talking about collision involving vehicles, the speeds are faster, the forces are greater and the chances of survival are much slimmer. 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.”
– To learn more about Graham, head to ‘his’ official site here.
Images © TAC