Informative yet Chilling Vintage VW Crash Safety Video Highlights Dark Side of ’80s Driving

The Morbid yet Fascinating World of 1980s Car Safety Testing

Imagine watching a video that sets the tone for a Danish crime drama, complete with gloomy shots of traffic, panning shots of cars, and dark point-of-view footage from inside cars, all accompanied by emergency sirens and a creepy synth score. That’s exactly what you get with this 1984 safety research film from Volkswagen.

The video begins by painting a bleak picture of the European roads of the time, where a crash occurred every second. It’s no wonder that Volkswagen wanted to emphasize the importance of safety in their vehicles. In this case, they were focusing on their commercial vans and the VW Bus, which featured cabover designs and no airbags – a design that might seem terrifying by today’s standards, but was actually relatively common in the 1980s.

Measures for Safety

So, how did Volkswagen design their vehicles to protect front passengers? The video takes viewers through various measures they incorporated, including front impact struts, deformation bars, and extra structural bracing. The bus even had a collapsable steering column to reduce the risk of injury. While these measures might seem primitive compared to modern safety equipment, they were considered advanced for their time.

Crash Prevention

But safety wasn’t just about reacting to crashes – it was also about preventing them. Volkswagen stressed the importance of good brakes and a balanced chassis, which could help a vehicle maneuver away from a potential collision, even when loaded with cargo and passengers.

A Look Back at Safety Testing

This video is a fascinating, if unsettling, look at how safety tests were conducted before the widespread use of airbags and anti-lock brakes. Volkswagen’s vans were surprisingly safe for their time, but viewed today, the film mostly highlights how far safety technology has come. It’s also a testament to how modern marketing has gotten better at making safety research videos more palatable.

Watch the Video

Check out the video below to see Volkswagen’s 1980s safety research film in all its eerie glory.

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