The Crashing Car

Imagine a car of any size crashing into a brick wall. The bumper and front end crumple first, slowing the car down. But then the car still keeps going. In many crash tests, the windsheild of the car will smash against the wall before the entire vehicle stops, sending the heads of the dummies flying into it.

Now imagine a car of almost the same size, but shaped somewhat differently. For one, the front end is about a foot longer, and the bumper is thicker, with springs inside it, like in the cars of the sixties. Also, the interior of the car is entirely separate from the frame. It is mounted on small rollers, so it moves independently from the frame. Attatched to the outside rear of the sliding interior, there are several lengths of thick bungee cord and springs. There are also thinner lengths of bungee attached to the front of the interior. All of these are fastened to the inside of the frame.

When accelerating, the interior will gently slide backward, then come slowly forward, due to the tension of the cords and springs at the rear, and the compresion of the springs at the front. If the car hit something at high speeds, the front end would crumple as usual (though perhaps slightly less so because of the large bumper) and the interior would slowly deccelerate, because of the tension of the bungee at the rear, and the compresion of the springs at the front. All other modern saftey featured would be implemented as well.