All language subtitles for NOVA.S52E11.Ultimate.Crash.Test.Impact.1080p.WEB.h264-BAE_track3_[eng]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(radio chirps)
MAN:
Okay, track is live.

Cars on the move in five,

four, three, two, one.

Action all vehicles.

(engines revving,
tires squealing)

TITO:
What the hell's that?

LYNN: Whoa!
LUKE:
Oh, my God!

♪ ♪

(tires skidding)

(car horns blaring)

NARRATOR:
A team of automotive experts

has just staged
an extraordinary experiment.

Look at your Porsche.

Was that meant to happen?

NARRATOR:
A multi-vehicle highway pileup,

using remote-controlled cars
driven by volunteers

who are unaware of the
experiment's full objectives.

(clucks tongue, sighs):
Just, what is going on?

NARRATOR:
Had this been
a real highway crash,

what would have happened to
the drivers and the passengers?

That's going to be
a severe head trauma.

NARRATOR:
Which cars made it through?

JANET BAHOUTH:
So assuming everybody's belted,

I think this person's
probably walking away.

NARRATOR:
And which didn't?

LYNN:
Oh, I'm just thinking, if I had
the grandkids in the back.

NARRATOR:
And can crash forensic experts
who did not witness

the pileup...

ANDY SHELTON:
The mantra in forensics is,

every contact leaves a trace.

NARRATOR:
...decipher the aftermath
of the wreckage to discover

the truth of what happened?

TITO:
Oh, my goodness, man.
Yeah.

NARRATOR:
"Ultimate Crash Test: Impact."

Right now, on "NOVA."

(tires skidding)

Oh. Oh! Oh, my God!

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(engines humming)

(radio chirps)

(speakers echoing in distance)
Okay, track
is live.

Cars on the move
in five, four, three, two,

one.

Action all vehicles.

NARRATOR:
After years of planning,

a team of automotive experts
has achieved

something extraordinary.

Successfully executing
a controlled multi-car pileup.

Bloody hell,
the Porsche is off.

Blimey, everyone's
steaming away.

(chuckles):
I know, look at 'em go.

NARRATOR:
Eight real vehicles

driven by remote control

from specially adapted
compact cars.
(radio chirps)

800 meters.

Very good, keep in your lane.

NARRATOR:
Four of the remote drivers

had no idea their vehicles
were about to be involved

in a huge accident.

600 meters.

NARRATOR:
While the other four

were there
to make sure they were.

200 meters out.

NARRATOR:
At a predesignated moment,
a remote-controlled truck

crossed into their lane.
TITO:
What the hell's that?

NARRATOR:
A crash made
even more unavoidable

by a layer of gravel
designed to mimic

icy roads and poor-visibility
weather conditions.

LYNN:
Whoa!

CAITLAN:
I can't see!

NARRATOR:
What can be learned
from this chaos?

Oh. Ooh!

Jesus!

♪ ♪

(tires skidding)

TITO:
What? Oh, my goodness!

LYNN:
Oh!

(tires skidding)

(tires skidding)

(car horn honking)

CAITLAN:
I've just crashed!

(laughing):
My God!

(car alarm blaring)

♪ ♪

JAMES BRIGHTON:
Drivers, there has been
an accident on track.

No cause for alarm.

Everybody is safe.

We will now investigate.

TITO:
What?

Was that for real,
or was that A.I.?

Has Caitlan's car gone
underneath the truck?

(breathes deeply)

Deep breaths, Caitlan,
deep breaths.

(siren blaring)

NARRATOR:
The team has completed the
first stage of the experiment,

a multi-car pileup,
with no injuries,

every detail painstakingly
recorded from start to finish.

♪ ♪

(radio chirps)
BRIGHTON:
JLB team,

please kill cars, over.

NARRATOR: Team leader
James Brighton is now ready

to begin the next phase
of the experiment:

analyzing
the incredible footage,

vast quantities of data,
crash scene,

and witness accounts

before the cars are sent back
to Cranfield University,

the team's base, where
they'll be further analyzed

by automotive engineering
students.

♪ ♪

After years of preparation,

it's a huge relief to see
all the pieces finally

come together.

(laughs):
This is so great.

So cool.

NARRATOR:
Helping to dissect the pileup

is crash analysis expert
Janet Bahouth.

BRIGHTON:
So the Golf made it through?

BAHOUTH: Yeah, it...
BRIGHTON:
Ah, no way.

BAHOUTH: It clipped
the back end, yeah.
BRIGHTON: Wow.

NARRATOR:
For Janet, this wreckage site
has extraordinary potential.

Normally, she only gets
to see the aftermath

of a real-life crash.

But this crash is different.

Each vehicle was equipped with
black boxes that captured

every detail of the event,
including speed,

impact force,
and brake pressure.

Plus, with more than 90 cameras
recording the entire incident,

Janet and her team will have
a 360-degree view

of how the scene unfolded.

I'll tell you what,
this is the coolest thing ever.
(laughing)

So neat to see this,
and to have

a video of it the
entire way through

is fantastic.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Although it's rare for cars
to catch fire in crashes,

the fire crew makes sure
the site is safe.

♪ ♪

Back at the pod enclosure,

the four volunteer drivers,
Tito, Caitlan, Luke, and Lynn,

are still processing
what just happened.

I saw Luke slow down.

I was, like, "Oh, I, I bet...
I got to slow down."

Oh, my God, I'm so confused.

NARRATOR:
They were selected to represent

different ages
and driving styles.

None of them knew
they were about to be involved

in a multi-car pileup.

Before taking part,

they all underwent
psychological screening

to make sure they could cope

with the emotional toll
of being involved in the crash,

and will now be assessed again
by a psychologist.

None of these assessments
are filmed,

in order to protect the
drivers' privacy and well-being.

The other four drivers,
Mark, Aisha,

Pete, and Chenhui
are part of James's team,

and knew exactly
what was coming.

Hi, everybody.

NARRATOR:
All four of the volunteer
drivers are given the all-clear.

And they all want to learn more
about the experiment

and see the crash site up close.

BAHOUTH:
So what we have here
and what all of

these people have put together
was done on purpose.

(chuckling):
And we thank you
for being a part of this.

We used you as the drivers who
didn't know what was going on.

And my job in all of this
is to look at how

you fared in your vehicle.

Thank God you weren't
actually in it.

(others murmuring agreement)
We have, in our world,

we have crash tests
where it's all very

sanitized and instrumented,

and we know exactly what's going
to happen, for the most part,

before it does.

In the real world,
of course, we have no idea.

What we did is,
we mixed the two worlds.

(chuckling)

A lot of naysayers about

how this was never gonna work.
MAN: Mm-hmm.

We did it! We did it! Thank you!
(others exclaiming)

BAHOUTH: You were a huge part
of this.
(Tito exclaiming)

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Not one car escaped the pileup
without damage.

Some are almost unscathed.

Others are barely recognizable.

One element of it
that we really didn't want

is just one enormous pileup,

where there is no decision
to be made by the drivers.

There's really very little
to learn.

Every driver took a different
reaction to the events

that were unfolding
in front of them.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
In the real world,
every major pileup

is carefully investigated
to determine what happened.

This staged crash
is no different.

A team of crash investigators

will now analyze the incident

using standard
forensic techniques.

To keep the investigation
as realistic as possible,

the forensic team
has been sequestered.

They did not witness the crash
and have no prior information.

Leading the crash forensic team

is former U.S. state trooper
Andy Shelton.

SHELTON:
So, I'm going in blind,

um, and I'll approach this crash
as I would any other.

Uh, I'll work my way
to the center of the chaos

and try and, uh,
travel the paths back outward

until I can figure out,
uh, some idea

of what's going on
and hopefully be able to,

uh, give you a cogent report
at the end of it.

NARRATOR:
Andy spent more than 20 years

with the Tennessee
Highway Patrol,

including time with their
Critical Incident Response Team,

where he responded
to hundreds of incidents.

But he's never investigated
a pileup that's been captured

in minute detail
by so many cameras.

This unique opportunity

is a chance to put traditional
crash investigation techniques

to the test.

SHELTON:
The challenge is, you have

the disorder or the chaos
of the crash scene,

but you have to be able
to make order out of it.

The mantra in forensics is,
every contact leaves a trace.

Uh, we're able
to use that to figure out

how they came into the crash
and,

and, ultimately, what caused it.

NARRATOR:
For the investigation, Andy is
pairing up with Marcus Rowe,

a former U.K. police forensic
collision investigator.

He, too, saw nothing
of the accident.

ROWE:
I always wanted
to be somebody's lackey.

NARRATOR:
Their first job is to scan
and model the entire scene

in 3D using lidar.

Yeah, now you got
line of sight there.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Lidar technology allows
investigations to continue

long after the wreckage has been
removed and roads reopened.

SHELTON:
So we're gonna be able to take
the scene that we have here

and drop it back on to,
for instance, Google Earth

or something like that.

If this were to be
a criminal case,

we can show the context
of the roadway around it.

Uh, things like line-of-sight
issues, hills, trees, anything

that may have distracted
a driver along the way.

Okay, that's good.

NARRATOR:
With the entire crash scene
scanned,

the forensic investigation
begins.

SHELTON:
So you can see the pulsing

from the A.B.S. on the,
on the roadway.

And if you look here, Marcus,
there's some scuffing here.

And then we've got the flat tire
scuff from the left front tire.

NARRATOR:
As in the real world,

the challenge
for the crash investigators

is to try and figure out
how the pileup unfolded.

SHELTON: So this could be
undercarriage of the Audi.
ROWE: Yeah, but...

Trailer's like this.

NARRATOR:
Janet, who knows exactly
how the crash played out,

will be able to judge how
accurate their conclusions are.

Those marks are
to the far-side tires.

ROWE:
We're looking for the,

the physical evidence that
talks to us, right?

That tells us
the story.

That can only be
made in one way.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
As Andy and Marcus work
to pick apart the crash details,

Janet can now show the drivers
how their actions in the pods

played out on the track,

and whether the safety systems

in their cars
would have done enough

to protect them.

First up is Lynn and her Prius.

Lynn was driving
at the rear of the pack,

with team driver Pete following
closely behind in the white van.

From her position, she is able
to spot a problem ahead

and quickly brings her Prius
to a stop.

LYNN:
Whoa.

(tires skid, vehicles collide)

Whoa! What's bloody happened
there?

Oh, God.

NARRATOR:
Pete, traveling
below the speed limit,

at 62 miles per hour,

plays the role
of a distracted driver

and crashes into the back
of her car.

♪ ♪

LYNN:
Oh, God.

And I thought I was safe.

I didn't realize
that had happened.

Oh, my God.

Oh, crying out loud.

I didn't think I'd feel like
this, that it's not real.

But it could have been.

Oh!
Yeah.

NARRATOR:
Despite the Prius
being rear-ended,

a built-in safety feature
called a crumple zone

took the brunt of the damage.

Crumple zones
are designed

to deform
under loading

are better protected
in a crash.

You're transferring less crash
energy to the occupants,

and therefore you're reducing
the injury risk.

♪ ♪

Would my grandkids
have survived?

Oh, for crying out loud.

BAHOUTH:
Let's go take a look.

NARRATOR:
Data from the on-board
crash recorders

registered an impact of 22.5 G

when the Prius was
rear-ended by the van.

LYNN:
Whoa! What's bloody
happened there? Oh, God.

NARRATOR:
To put that in context,

astronauts experience up
to 4 G during takeoff.

THOMAS:
The goal is always to keep
the occupant cabin intact.

And so you want to dissipate

those crash energies
elsewhere in the vehicle.

This helps to reduce damage

to these important areas
of the vehicle

that could lead
to things like fires

or leaks or other failures.

This is what's underneath--
this is...

NARRATOR:
Crumple zones are designed

to absorb forces of around 20 G.

(device beeping)

The 22.5 G impact

has totally crushed
the trunk space

and led to a deformation
of the rear cabin.

LYNN:
What injuries would I have
sustained, do you think?

So, it's hard to say,
but I think you might

have some bruising, abdominal
bruising, from the seat belt.
LYNN: Oh.

BAHOUTH:
Um...

Probably some neck pain,

at the very least.
Yeah.

Um, I'm a little bit
more worried

about somebody
in the back...

LYNN: Oh, don't say that!
BAHOUTH: ...because they were
directly impacted.

(gasping)

NARRATOR:
The rear of the car has crumpled
up to the back seats,

highlighting the intense force
the Prius experienced.

However, the deformation inside
the rear passenger cabin

was minimal,

meaning severe injuries
would have been unlikely.

Still, the importance
of wearing a seat belt

in the rear seat
couldn't be clearer.

BAHOUTH:
Your babies weren't in there,
you're good.

Eh? No, I know.
They were not
in there.

I know.
They were not in there.

Oh, God, imagine if they were.
(gasps)

BAHOUTH:
I know.
LYNN: So I never thought

I'd feel like this.

I thought it was just
a game.

Do you know what I mean?
But it's, like, real.

Yeah.

Sort of...
It's not, but it, it,
yeah.

Mm-hmm.
God, it's really got me.

Fla, flaming Nora.
Yeah.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The Prius is a hybrid car.

If damaged,
the battery could catch fire,

posing an additional risk to
occupants and first responders.

♪ ♪

But in this case,
the battery remained intact.

The car's crumple zones absorbed
the impact as designed,

protecting the battery.

As a result, there was
no risk of a battery fire.

But can Andy and Marcus
figure out the scenario

that led
to the Prius getting hit,

using only the evidence
left at the scene?

SHELTON:
It's apparent that someone
probably overreacted

to the crash occurring
in front of them,

and then, possibly,
an inattentive driver

drove into the back of them.

So that's, that's kind of
a, a clear and defined crash

that's separate from everything
else that we're looking at.

NARRATOR:
Tito, an experienced
U.S. driver

who's based in the U.K.,

spots the danger early.

Remotely driving a Ford F-150
pickup, Tito reacts quickly,

even though the flying grit
has reduced visibility.

TITO:
Oh, (bleep) hell,
what the hell's that?

Oh, my goodness!

(tires skidding)

(vehicles collide)
What?!

NARRATOR:
Tito may have benefited

from the higher driving position

of the truck.
TITO:
Hey!

THOMAS:
Taller vehicles can have
some safety advantages,

including the fact that you
just have better visibility.

You're riding higher,
you're able to see more.

They often are also
larger and heavier.

And this has benefits in a crash
because of just basic physics.

(vehicles collide)

When you're coming
against smaller vehicles,

your vehicle is going
to have a safety advantage.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
For the crash forensic team,

this analysis
is straightforward.

That side of the,
this section of road

is higher than this side.

So these are locked tire marks,
and they're tracking

directly in a straight line,
so the car did not yaw.

So the F-150 is coming
in a straight line,

and it's just followed
this curved path,

and it's just kind of
come to a rest gently there.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
But is this
how Tito remembers the crash?

TITO:
Wow.

Oh, my gosh,
look at that.

BAHOUTH:
Look at your car.

It's all right.

Did you mean to,
to move over?

Yeah, I was just, like...

Just holding on tight.
...holding on,

'cause I didn't
want to hit anyone.
Okay.

TITO:
Wow.

You could drive away, right?
Right.

It looks like it.
No.

Tire's intact.
Yeah.

So this is interesting, because
it's a higher-framed car.

Yep.
Uh, a lot of trucks
in the U.S.

Yes.
And, um, you know,
we, we've got

some interesting cargo...
(chuckles)

TITO: Yeah.
BAHOUTH:
...in the back.

TITO:
I'm surprised it didn't go
through.

BAHOUTH (chuckling):
You know, you fared

really good in this--
let's take a look inside.

TITO:
How about the passenger?

Passenger's okay?

BAHOUTH:
So, as a belted occupant in,

in the passenger side here,
the dummy was jostled around.

TITO: Okay.
BAHOUTH:
Not a big deal. He's belted.

In this impact, pretty good.

You walk away. We're good to go.

TITO:
Whew!

NARRATOR:
Lynn and Tito managed
to avoid hitting the truck

since they both reacted quickly
to the unfolding situation.

Natasha Merat is
an experimental psychologist

researching car safety.

For her,
the footage is revealing.

As he's coming
towards the crash,

he tries to avoid the crash,
like in the real world.

What the hell's that?

MERAT:
Instead of just braking,

he actually tries to move
out of the way by steering,

which is more of an
experienced driver's behavior.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

MERAT:
With Lynn, she's well behind.

She sees it all happening
way ahead.

She slows down even more.

She's sort of avoided the crash.

But as is also, again,
typical in these situations,

she ends up being rear-ended
by another vehicle,

which happens, again,
in the real world.

NARRATOR:
Being rear-ended is a reminder
that for drivers like Lynn,

danger on the road can be behind
the driver...
(tires skid)

...as much as in front.

You just got to be
so careful of what's behind you

and what's in front of you
and what's at the side of you.

You can't just be centered
on your own little world.

You've got to be aware of
everything all around you.

Yeah.
When you're on
the motorway, especially.

NARRATOR:
Having shown Tito his F-150,

Janet now wants to show him one
of the other cars on the tarmac.

You had mentioned
you have

a Dodge minivan.
Yes, in...

Yeah.
When I go visit
the States,

that's, that's what I drive.
Yeah, let's go take
a look at it.

NARRATOR:
The minivan was driven by

Chenhui,
one of James's team drivers.

During the crash, it experienced
multiple collisions.

And from the wreck,

it's clear a major safety device
came into play.

Airbags.

The airbags used in today's cars
originated in Japan in 1964.

DAVID TWOHIG:
So a Japanese engineer
called Kobori-san

came up with the idea
of using a chemical impellent

to create a controlled explosion

and generate a lot of gas
in a very short time.

NARRATOR:
Later, airbags were developed
to inflate

in around 30 milliseconds

and were introduced into
high-end vehicles in the 1970s.

Today, they're a standard
safety feature in every new car.

But they have their limitations.

Airbags are designed
to deploy

once during a crash.

So, for subsequent events,

they're not going to have
their full effectiveness.

Automotive
manufacturers

would love to be able
to design

against multiple impacts
for one vehicle.

It's difficult,
though,

because after a first impact,

an occupant might be inside
the airbag, so to speak.

NARRATOR:
If the same airbag
deploys a second time

while an occupant is
already cushioned against it,

the controlled explosion could
injure rather than protect.

The occupants of this minivan
would have encountered

this problem, since it
experiences multiple impacts.

Its first point of contact is
with the parked black Audi A6

towing the camper.

♪ ♪

It's at this point
the front airbags inflate.

But then it slams into
the parked blue Ford C-Max,

cannoning the C-Max into
the tractor trailer's cabin.

Here, the minivan's
side airbags deploy.

♪ ♪

It then smashes into
the tractor cabin itself

and finally collides sideways
with the truck's trailer.

♪ ♪

The front and side airbags
deploy

during the first two impacts.

However, since they are designed
to deflate quickly

to avoid trapping or suffocating
injured occupants,

they offer less protection

during the final
side-on collision.

TITO:
Oh, my goodness, man.
BAHOUTH: Yeah.

Yeah.

This car went through a lot.
(chuckles)

Uh, it wasn't just
one impact, obviously,

because the entire front
is destroyed,

the side is destroyed.

You can see toward the back,

we've got rear impact.

We had a dummy sitting
in the front passenger seat.
TITO: Yeah.

BAHOUTH:
So the airbags deployed.

But at the end of the day,
it didn't do a whole lot.

Okay, no.

Airbag or not,

with this much intrusion,
with this much damage

to the occupant space...

...nobody would
have survived that.
No.

(tires skidding)

TITO:
My goodness.

It's just shocking
that within mi...

Just seconds, really, seconds...

...a solid thing turns into
a crushed piece of metal.

BAHOUTH:
Yep.

This is the car seat
with the seat belt

that held the car seat in.
Oh, my God.

Yeah.

So, if there were,
if there were a child

sitting back there,
they didn't make it.

No.
100%.

That is a huge impact.

TITO: I will continue being
a defensive driver.
BAHOUTH: Good.

Major impacts like this, just...

Any car, any car
will get crushed.

NARRATOR:
But can Marcus pick apart
the clues in the crushed metal?

ROWE:
I think the white vehicle,
the people carrier,

has probably-- to be confirmed

with paint transfers
and other things--

had an impact
with the blue towing vehicle.

It's put it into a sideways yaw,

which has then resulted in
a sideways, fairly significant

kind of slapping impact.

And it's gone quite high,
actually,

after impact, onto the lorry.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Marcus is correct
about the circumstance

that led up
to the Dodge's crash.

He has incorrectly assumed

the blue Ford C-Max
was driving

rather than parked
on the shoulder.

But he has figured out which
car struck the truck first.

♪ ♪

The C-Max cannot have got
to its resultant position

if the white vehicle
was here.

So the C-Max event

must have happened before

the white vehicle event.

♪ ♪

The blue Ford is first
into the collision,

followed by
the white people carrier,

followed by the F-150.

That's what the evidence is, uh,
is telling me at this point.

NARRATOR:
And Andy has found
some physical evidence

that confirms this theory.

The Dodge came into
the side of the Audi.

In the process,

this blue paint--

which, my initial
assessment was,

it was from
the side of the truck...

Mm-hmm.
It's actually from the Ford.

BAHOUTH: Cool.
SHELTON: So, the front end
loaded up

into the back of the Ford.

You got the...
Yeah, that...

The white bumper was
actually deposited in...

Nice.
...here.

Wow, that's so neat.

And we removed that out
of there

in the process of,
of assessing it.

And then I told you,

it brought some of
the Audi with it.

Yeah.
This was trapped in here.

It's a black panel

with the green panel adhesive

on the back of it.
Wow, so that...

So it, it brought
part of the Audi

to the Ford
and left it behind.

NARRATOR:
Across the track,

Marcus has spotted
something interesting

with regards to
the Porsche Boxter,

driven by Caitlan,

the youngest and least
experienced driver.

♪ ♪

So, if you kind of stand
quite close to me

and look down the line here,
you can hopefully see

these two fairly clear
tire marks.

So they start in this lane,

and then they come into
this kind of area

next to this barrier.

You can see the black marks

of the driver's side tires

coming up onto the barrier,

and they come increasingly up
until the sidewall of the tire

actually makes
a really significant mark

on the lower edge
of the barrier.

And at about the same time,

there's contact on the barrier

with the wing mirror.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Marcus has perfectly described

the contact
Caitlan's Porsche made

with the barrier
without having seen it happen.

CAITLAN:
Um...

I can't see!

(loudly):
What is going on?!

(tires skidding,
vehicles colliding)

I've just crashed.

ROWE:
So, we've got the route
of the Boxster

really well nailed down.

And we also know the driving
behavior of the Boxster.

We don't know the speed
at this point,

but we do know there's
really good early observations.

There's avoiding action
and there's heavy braking.

So we can say, you know,

"That driver is awake,
they're on it."

You know, they, they've
taken avoidant action.

Sure, they've ended up
making contact,

but at quite an early stage
and quite a good distance back,

they have reacted to the
impending danger ahead of them.

(loudly):
What is going on?!

NARRATOR:
Caitlan comes to a stop

about 25 feet
from the tractor trailer.

But then, she accelerates
directly into the back of it.

Why?

Oh, my God.
(laughs)

Wow.

Not so beautiful car
anymore, huh?

Yes, what a shame,
but what the hell?

I don't know how,
how I managed that.

Mm-hmm.
I don't know how I've ended up
under there.

That is, that is bad--
that is really bad.

CAITLAN:
Wow.

BAHOUTH:
Describe what you remember,
though, as you came down.

So, what I vaguely remember

is just a big cloud of smoke.

I don't recall
seeing that.

I didn't see
the lorry at all.
BAHOUTH: Okay.

CAITLAN:
But I remember I did

put me foot on the brake,

and I did accelerate
a little bit

to get out of the smoke.

(tires skidding)

NARRATOR:
The video evidence suggests

that Caitlan
may have reacted to

the sporty Mercedes ML,

driven by team driver Aisha,
speeding past her

as she remained
in the right-hand lane.

In the U.K.,
this is the fast lane,

and a dangerous place
to be stationary.

MERAT:
Caitlan does just stop.

She's obviously
in shock,

the smoke is
coming in,

she's really not sure
what she, um,

should do.

And then she is actually
still seeing

that she should
move out of the way

and get herself
out of that situation.

CAITLAN:
It all happened so fast.

BAHOUTH:
Yeah.
It was, like, just a big blur,

but honestly, I'm,

I'm gobsmacked.

I'm gobsmacked.
Yeah.

BAHOUTH:
So, you ended up
not having enough

momentum, enough velocity

to actually go under.
Yeah.

(chuckles):
Which is probably very good.
Yeah.

So, would I
have been safe, or...

I think you'd be okay.
Wow.

Obviously shaken, maybe
some bruises from the seat belt,

but you would have
walked away okay.

Wow.
Yeah.

NARRATOR:
Caitlan would have
survived the crash

due to one of the simplest
of safety features:

the humble seat belt.

The three-point seat belt
has saved more lives

than any other
car safety device.

First invented in 1951

by Americans Roger W. Griswold
and Hugh DeHaven,

the modern side-buckled version
was created by

Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin
and Volvo in 1959.

♪ ♪

TWOHIG:
Rather than trying to make money
out of this invention,

Bohlin and Volvo actually

gave the technology
to the rest of the world.

So not only did Nils Bohlin
save millions of lives,

he never sought to make
a penny out of his invention.

THOMAS:
The point is to spread
the crash forces

over the strong parts
of the body,

like the chest and the pelvis.

Modern-day
seat belts have

advanced
technologies,

What these features do is,
they help to remove the slack

out of the seat belt system.

At the end of the day,

the best thing that you can do
is put your seat belt on.

The seat belt is still
the most effective way

to reduce your risk of injury
in a crash.

BAHOUTH:
You did pretty well.

I'm fairly surprised
that I would've been okay,

because there's no roof
or nothing on it.

Mm-hmm.
So in my mind,
I was sort of thinking

I might have flew out,
or something like that.
Yeah.

If you were unbelted...
Then yeah, definitely.

...that's a distinct
possibility, for sure.

BAHOUTH:
If you're belted...

CAITLAN: I'm safe.
BAHOUTH: ...you're literally
unbelting yourself

and you're walking away.
CAITLAN:
Wow.

BAHOUTH:
You did great in this car,
for sure.

Well, don't underestimate
us young drivers.

(both laugh)

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The Volkswagen Golf,

driven by adrenaline junkie
Luke,

has come to a stop

about 40 feet on the far side
of the tractor truck.

ROWE:
These are the track marks
of the Golf,

and the left-hand side is here--
as you can see,

that's underneath the lorry.

So we know that
the Golf has come through

before the lorry is
across the road,

if that makes sense.

SHELTON:
The Volkswagen appears to
have had

to have traveled through
the location of the trailer

from the delivery truck.

So in order
to travel through it,

we know the truck
wasn't there.

NARRATOR:
Marcus and Andy know

that the Golf
could not have passed

through the truck.

They can also tell
that the Golf

didn't squeeze
past the cab of the truck

before it blocked the road.

If that had happened,

any damage to the Golf
would be on the other side.

So can they figure out
what really happened?

Oh, oh, oh!

Jesus!

BAHOUTH: So, you can see...

LUKE: See, it looks unscathed
here, doesn't it?

Yep, absolutely.
So literally, the impact

was the side...
Yeah.

...right into it
there.
BAHOUTH: Started here.

LUKE: Oh, wow, yeah.
BAHOUTH: You can even see
the white paint.

LUKE (gasps):
Look at that.
BAHOUTH: Yeah.

Tore through it--
that's gotta be

part of the metal.
LUKE:
Oh, my God.

NARRATOR:
Back at the truck,

the investigators
make a breakthrough

that could explain the damage
to the Golf.

So we've been looking
constantly now

for a solution

that allows the Golf
to get through to where it is,

and we found the secret.

SHELTON: There's a contact from
the lower corner of the trailer

that's actually gouged
into the roadway

that's indicated that

the trailer has actually come up

in this kind of configuration.

NARRATOR:
The front right corner
of the second trailer

has clearly made contact
with the ground.

For this to have happened,
something must have struck

the back left side
of the trailer,

forcing it up into the air.

The impact of the Porsche
wasn't significant enough

to have caused the trailer
to tip.

However, damage to
the luxury sedan Audi A8,

driven by team driver Mark,

which is now a crumpled wreck
20 feet from the truck,

suggests it might be
the reason the trailer tipped.

So, if it's come up from there,

created a new hypothesis:

is it possible
the Volkswagen actually

could have gotten under the,

a portion of or all of
the trailer at some point?

NARRATOR:
The investigators' theory

is that the Golf didn't
go through the truck,

but under it.

The truck trailer
is pushed onto two wheels

as the Audi strikes it...

♪ ♪

...gouging out a piece
of the roadway as it lurches,

creating a gap underneath,

which the Golf drives
right through.

♪ ♪

But is there any evidence
available to the investigators

to give them confidence
in their theory?

SHELTON:
What we identified

is red paint on the bottom
of this surface.

It's the only red transfer
we found on the vehicle.

NARRATOR:
The traces of red paint
prove the Golf contacted

the underside of the trailer.

The trailer actually
has to have been

up at some elevation

for the Volkswagen
to get underneath it.

The only thing we can think
that could have caused

that kind of opening
is the impact

of the Audi striking
the trailer first,

the Volkswagen shooting
underneath

the edge of the trailer
as it went by,

then the Porsche
coming in behind that.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Using the lidar scans

to remove the smoke
from the crash scene,

it's possible to visualize

how the Golf squeezes
under the trailer

at the very moment the Audi
forces it onto two wheels,

leaving gouge marks
on the tarmac.

A one-in-a-million set
of circumstances

that could have saved
the driver's life.

♪ ♪

This scenario explains the
extensive damage to the Audi.

SHELTON:
The primary direction of force

is directly through, uh,

the, basically the tip
of the steering wheel.

Mm-hmm.
Which is kind of the worst place
for a driver to be.

I, I wouldn't expect to see
very good condition

on this one.
Yeah, yeah.

BAHOUTH:
We've got so much intrusion.

His legs are crushed.

It's probably not survivable.

NARRATOR:
It also explains
the much lighter damage

to the Mercedes ML
driven by team member Aisha.

SHELTON:
As the truck's coming back down,

the black Mercedes catches

the corner of the door
that's swinging.

It flattened
the left front wheel,

which has left a low tire scuff

all the way to the final
rest location of the Mercedes.

We've got
A.B.S. brake indication

actually once we get
into the grass,

but no evidence of braking
out in this area

on the part of the Mercedes.

NARRATOR:
And what about the passengers
in the Mercedes?

Before the crash,

Janet installed
two crash-test dummies.

One was belted,

and one was deliberately
left unbelted.

(tires skidding)

The car caught a glancing blow

off the rear door
of the truck.

Both the belted
and unbelted passengers

would have been shaken
but unharmed.

This time.

♪ ♪

But what about the occupants
of the Golf?

Would they also
have been unharmed?

ROWE:
The Golf has gone
underneath the trailer.

There's been some contact

between the underside
of the trailer

and the Golf on the A-pillar
that you can evidence together

the cause and effect
of those two areas.

NARRATOR:
While the driver's airbag
was deactivated

to accommodate the robotics,

the passenger's airbag
could have deployed,

but didn't.

And Janet has
a theory as to why.

The impact came
so high on the car,

the airbag sensors
are down...
Yeah.

...on the bumper area.

It may have missed it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The, the sensors might not have
picked it up.

LUKE:
Yeah, yeah.

NARRATOR:
The team won't be able
to confirm this theory

until the Golf is returned
to Cranfield University,

and the airbag data
is analyzed.

(tires skidding)

The damage to the Golf
may appear minimal,

but the dummy inside
tells a different story.

Before the experiment,

Janet applied
colored greasepaint

to the mannequin's head.

♪ ♪

Paint traces left on the car

reveal where the dummy struck
hard surfaces

during the crash,

providing clues about
the injuries this passenger

would have received.

BAHOUTH:
Let me show you something.

That is so close,
isn't it?

It's not just so close--
he hit it.

He actually struck
the car.

Oh, wow.
Look, the red paint.

You can see it,
oh, yeah?

That is insane, isn't it?
Yeah.

NARRATOR:
The black box data,

once fed into a crash simulator,

confirms what the greasepaint
is already revealing.

And the results are sobering.

♪ ♪

The brief but substantial
contact with the trailer

causes the forward pillar
to buckle,

striking the passenger
on the head.

How, um, injured was the person
in it, then?

That's going to be
a severe head trauma,

there's no doubt.

NARRATOR:
The Golf's pillar may have
buckled only a few inches,

but if that force
had been transferred

to the passenger's head,

the injury
could have been fatal.

(engine revving)

(tires skidding)

LUKE:
And obviously, what are
the injuries I sustained?

BAHOUTH:
For you,

maybe some head trauma.
No.

Yeah.

Really puts it into
perspective, doesn't it?

You don't know
what's going to happen

and the injuries
that you sustain, so,

yeah, it's just...

Don't know what to say,
really.

We're happy you weren't
actually in there.

Yeah, no,
of course.

♪ ♪

(alarm blaring)

He's veering, he's veering.

MERAT:
You can watch Luke's pupils.

They are dilating.

Oh, oh, oh!

He's definitely got all
of the responses

of a shocked and
immersed person.

and he's trying to avoid it,
and he just can't believe it.

Whoa!

NARRATOR:
For Natasha, it's proof of

the validity of the experiment.

Although the drivers
were in remote control pods,

they still experienced
this crash.

I've never really been in
something this serious before.

At this speed and when
something happens this quickly,

you have no time to react.

It really is quite a scary
situation to be in.

I probably will drive
a bit more differently.

Be more cautious, as well--

cautious of other people,
especially on the motorway.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
According to crash analysis
expert Janet Bahouth,

of the volunteer drivers,

only Luke would have faced
the possibility

of serious injury.

Tito, Caitlan,

and Lynn more than likely

would have been able
to walk away.

(tires skidding)

Although that's not the case
for drivers from James's team.

While Pete in the white van

and Aisha in the Mercedes
would have survived...

♪ ♪

...if Chenhui had actually
been in the Dodge

and Mark in the Audi,

their impacts would have likely
been fatal.

As for the cars
parked on the shoulder...

♪ ♪

....those in the towing vehicle
took a heavy hit,

but would most likely
have survived.

However, anyone still
in the Ford C-Max

may well have lost their lives,

confirming
that the safest option

is to exit a parked car
on the shoulder

to avoid
any potential collisions.

♪ ♪

Having laid out their theory,

Marcus and Andy now
get to watch the crash unfold

for the first time,

to see if their findings
are correct.

BAHOUTH: Here we go
SHELTON: It's exciting.

(tires skidding)

SHELTON:
Some cars were slower,

some cars were faster.
BAHOUTH: Mm-hmm.

SHELTON:
Truck comes over-- wow.

Did you see it?

The trailer come up?
ROWE:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, look at the Porsche.

She stops and then drove
inside of it.

BAHOUTH:
She pulled over knowing
something bad was happening,

and then realized,

"I'm in all this smoke.

I don't like this smoke--
get out."

And that's why
she continued...
So she was trying to

drive through
a thick smokescreen.
BAHOUTH: She didn't know...

ROWE: Oh, right.
BAHOUTH: She didn't know
the tractor trailer was there.

♪ ♪

SHELTON:
The blue car

that really didn't
make any sense

how it had interacted
was stationary.

Was stationary.
Yeah, yeah, but that...

Absolutely.
We always had
a question mark...

Had a question about...
...over the physics of that,
so that's...

The physics of
the rotation on it.
Yeah.

So, that answers
a lot of questions.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The stationary blue C-Max aside,

Andy and Marcus
very accurately deduced

the individual elements
of this complex incident,

proving the value
of their methods and experience.

♪ ♪

SHELTON:
Coming out here,

of course, I didn't know
what to expect.

Got here, and it was
a heck of a crash.

Big mess spread out
over an immense distance.

We worked all the way
through it.

We'd come to a relatively
solid hypothesis.

I was, like, the kid with
the answers to the tests.

SHELTON:
Right.
And I watched you guys,

and I, I saw what you were doing

and how you were looking
at everything.

The magic happened
when you picked up

the corner of the back trailer.

It broke open

the whole case for you guys.
Yeah.
Right.

It was fantastic to see that,
I was so excited.

There was no way
the Volkswagen could have

gone through the truck.
(chuckling):
Right.

It had to go
under the truck.
Yeah.

(tires skidding)

SHELTON:
Having the ability to go back in
at the tail end

and watch the video,
what transpired, to see

what I ascertained in the field

and how it compared
to what actually occurred

was really mind-boggling
in this case,

because it was--
we were so close to,

to what had actually transpired

without ever looking
at any data.

We're able to show
that what we do in the field

helps us to find the truth

so that we can speak the truth
and defend it later.

And it was a, it was a great
process to be able to do that.

I was...
Just fantastic.

Wouldn't you like to
have this on every crash?

(Bahouth chuckles)

ROWE:
Seeing that Golf
under the lorry,

it's unique,

but we read it
correctly.

The science doesn't lie.

It's not luck.

It is a scientific art form

to read and diagnose
collision scenes.

And we've done it right.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: But what of the rest
of the experiment?

What has this high-speed
pileup revealed

about the vehicles themselves?

BRIGHTON: All the vehicles are
interesting in themselves,

not only because of the vehicle,

but because we've got the data,
we've got the footage,

and we know exactly
what happened to them.

What's the first thing
you notice here?

MAN:
The driver's seat is not
where it should have been.

BRIGHTON:
Exactly.

We brought all of the vehicles

back to the university,
and we're now starting

to use them to teach
the next generation

of automotive
and motorsport engineers.

We hear consumers complain
all the time that, like,

A-pillars and B-pillars
are getting bigger and bigger.
Yeah.

And visibility's getting worse.
But...

But clearly...
If that had been smaller...

♪ ♪

(exhales)

It's interesting

that the airbags
haven't gone off

on the passenger sides.
MAN 2:
Yeah.

NARRATOR:
James and his team have now

analyzed the black box data
from the Golf

and uncovered a possible reason

why Luke's passenger airbag
didn't deploy--

a set of circumstances
that ultimately would have led

to serious injury or even death.

The deceleration rate
was much less than five G.

The deceleration was simply
too low to trigger the airbags,

so they simply didn't deploy.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The Dodge highlighted a drawback
common to many vehicles

when it slammed side-on
into the tractor trailer.

It's far more significant
to have

a side-on high-energy impact

than it is to have
a front-on high-energy impact.

NARRATOR:
Front and rear crumple zones
save lives.

But these are harder
to build into the sides of cars.

But what really stands out

is that while cars
can be engineered

to be safer and safer,

there is still a weak link
in the chain.

You cannot 100% protect
the driver

from every scenario.

And so the driver has
to be vigilant

of what they're doing
at all times.

There is an interaction
between humans and systems.

So yes, our cars
are getting safer,

but the roads
are much more complex,

vehicles are much more complex,

people are still speeding.

And obviously,
the faster you go,

the more likely you are
to be involved in a crash.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The human element

brings with it poor driving
and speeding,

leading to severe and
potentially fatal accidents.

Oh! Oh!

NARRATOR:
But is there a solution?

For true safety,

perhaps the ultimate answer
will eventually be

to remove the driver
from the equation completely.

BRIGHTON:
The future of vehicles

is really going to be
autonomous systems

embedded into cars
so that they have

a better awareness
of their surroundings

than the human within them.

But nonetheless,

you are still
within a road environment

where lots of things can happen.

And protecting yourself
from those risks

is really paramount
for road safety.

NARRATOR:
Until autonomous vehicles
become the norm,

the fight goes on.

Engineers will continue
to design around humans

to build safer and safer cars

to cope with the random,
complex nature

of real roads and real drivers.

♪ ♪

BRIGHTON:
Bringing the human element in

and getting their reaction

really does help us
to understand how the cars

and the human as a combined unit

behave in this situation.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
After experiencing the crash

and examining the damage
done to their cars,

the volunteer drivers are eager

to see how the experiment
really unfolded,

and how it compares

to their recall of the event.

I did not see that lorry
at all.

No, no.
Even though
it's bright blue,

it's massive,
I didn't see it.
LUKE: I know!

NARRATOR:
This is the first time

they have seen the entirety
of the crash.

The dashcam and drone footage

reveals just what
they went through

in crystal-clear detail.

CAITLAN:
Here we go.

Happened so quick.

(tires skidding)

TITO:
Boom, boom.

Look at the white Dodge.

TITO: Oh, my goodness!
(Lynn moans)

LUKE: Literally clips the
caravan first, then spins.

Look at, look at Luke.
Whoa.

Look at you there, Luke.

LUKE: Yeah, look at the trailer
as it comes up.

LYNN:
Oh, for...

So I hit, like,
the underside, almost.

Aye, you're right,
you went through

that little bit there,
didn't you?

TITO: Wow!
BAHOUTH:
There's red paint underneath.

(Caitlan groans)
LUKE: That is, like,
lucky timing, I'd say.

Yeah, it was.

And that's me skidding.

LYNN:
That's Tito coming up.

TITO:
That's me on the brakes.

BAHOUTH:
Watch the Mercedes come in.

LYNN:
Whoa!

LUKE:
Oh, my God!

Then there's me.

LUKE:
Just, you stop and then

you just slowly go,

"Oh, I'm just gonna go
into the trailer."

CAITLAN: It was, like,
brain fog, I think.

LYNN:
So were you just panicking?

CAITLAN: Yeah...
LUKE: And you thought,

"Oh, yeah, he's going off, so
I'm going to go off, as well."

LYNN: So you tried to follow
him, then, haven't you?

CAITLAN: Yeah.
LYNN: Yeah.

And I'm all the way
up here!

(tires skidding,
vehicles collide)

Oh...
But as long as I survived

and me passengers did,
that's the main thing.

Well, we're all alive...
Yeah.

That's the main thing.

...and we're all here
to tell the tale.

Well, take what you learned
from here.

Um, you'll,
you'll remember it.

LYNN:
Gonna remember it
the rest of me life.

LUKE:
100%.

LYNN: Yeah.
BAHOUTH:
Yeah.

LYNN:
Yeah.
You're a great crowd, and,

and as a memento,
don't forget...
LYNN: Oh, look at that!

(Lynn and Caitlan exclaiming)

Take your license plates.

LUKE:
Thank you.
Absolutely.

Yeah, hey,

thank you very much.
CAITLAN:
Thank you.

LYNN:
Fridge magnet.

All right,
nice to meet you.

Safe driving.

Let's go.
Whoo!

♪ ♪

(all cheering)

I am mind-blown
and I am gobsmacked about it.

It's such a scary situation,

and obviously,
stuff like this happens

on a daily basis.

It does just take that one car
to cause chaos.

LUKE:
It goes to show
it doesn't matter

how good you are as a driver.

You could be the best driver
in the world

and have so many plans
or exit routes,

but there's only so much
you can do,

like, planning you can do.

There could be other people
around you,

especially on the motorway.

You have no control
in that situation.

LYNN:
I am really careful,

maybe sometimes too careful.

But it doesn't matter
how careful you are,

you can still be
in a really serious crash.

TITO:
It's definitely going
to stay with me.

It's definitely impacted me

in how I, how I drive
in the future.

Creating a unique experiment
like this

opens a window
to what we might be missing

with those lab tests.

And how can we now look

at improving the future design
of vehicles

so that we all drive around
in a much safer manner?

BAHOUTH:
I hope that people
watching this program

will get a lot out of it,

to change behavior,
to slow down,

to wear seat belts,

to not be distracted.

And hopefully,
the message for safety

really just
outshines everything.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪