Ever heard of a crash test for boats?

Boatcrash
Boatcrash

When the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue, the Norwegian Maritime Authority and the Norwegian Coastal Administration planned their annual information campaign “Look up” about the potential dangers of boating at the start of another summer season, they contacted Testfakta for a solution.

 

Together with the state owned laboratory Research Institutes of Sweden RISE in Borås, we rigged a leisure boat on the crash sled at the laboratory, asked a dummy family of four to take a seat in the boat and crashed it at different speeds to simulate hitting a rock under water. 

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A family of crash-test-dummies before the accident. Photo: Anton Hedberg

The results were shockingly eye-opening - even at a moderate speed of 20 knots, which most sportboats in Scandinavia can reach, the potential injuries were severe.

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The boat, initially cruising at 20 knots, comes to an immediate stop. Photo: Anton Hedberg
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Everyone is catapulted out of the boat at impact. Photo: Anton Hedberg

All results were filmed with high speed cameras and edited to the 2021 summer safety campaign in Norway.

 

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