Crash tests are a necessary thing. A funny, necessary thing... which we enjoy watching. A vehicle that scores well shows us just how we can be protected in the event of an accident, and that's wonderful to see.
On the flip side, a vehicle that does poorly provides an amusing vantage point of glorious destruction. It's pretty much always time for a new vehicle to step up and give its life so that others examples may live on. Today, that vehicle is the 2014 Mercedes-Benz ML350, and this German soft-roader just aced its test.
The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety loves ramming cars and trucks into stationary objects... for science! The latest victim was the aforementioned Benz, and it passed the IIHS tests with flying colors. This makes the M-Class the first Mercedes-Benz to earn the IIHS Top Safety Pick+ now that the testing includes the frontal-offset crash.
Of course, that just means it's one of the first ones to test with the new requirements, which were only added in 2012. We expect much of the rest of the tri-star family to follow suit in short order.
This is good news for fans of the M-Class. It's also good news for those of us who love watching these videos. In the clip, you can see the engine compartment collapse around the object, but the passenger compartment stays intact. The airbags deploy properly and the dummy escapes with what could be a minor left leg injury. Not bad for a 40 mile per hour to zero instant slowdown. After the crash, the poor ML350 slinks off to the side, clearly stunned, as its lights flutter and flicker.
You done good, kid... you done real good.
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