The Swedish government crash-tested some RVs and filmed it and it's terrifying
An increaase in RVs appearing on Swedish roads caught the attention of Trafikverket and inspired the tests.
Listen, I love watching a good crash-test video as much as the next guy, but that was until I saw these Swedish crash tests of RVs. They are flat-out terrifying and make me never want to get in one ever again.
The folks over at Motor1.com today dug up this video (from Sweden, in Swedish) showing Trafikverket -- Sweden's equivalent to our NHTSA -- putting some popular recreational vehicles to the test after seeing an uptick in fatalities in crashes where RVs where involved.
The call of the open road has been too much to bear for many Swedes, with RV sales soaring by around 50% over previous years, so now Trafikverket has a vested interest in seeing just how safe these things are.
The crash tests were performed on two styles of RV. The first is a traditional motorhome where the cab and living area are all designed and built by the RV manufacturer, the other is the semi-integrated type that takes the cab of something like a Sprinter van or the like, and whacks a camper bit onto the back of its chassis.
Neither the integrated nor the semi-integrated models did exceptionally well in the tests despite having semimodern safety features like airbags. The videos are pretty sobering, especially when you consider the prevalence of big RVs on American roads and our high average highway speeds.
