Joanne Smith is responsible for a car crash almost every single day. Sometimes even twice a day.
Thankfully, she isn’t some kind of West Midlands-based Pastor Maldonado. Being responsible for pretty much all of the passive safety crash testing that takes place at Horiba MIRA in Nuneaton, Smith smashes up cars for a living.
“It’ll be 30 years in January that I’ve worked here,” she says. “It has completely changed in that time. When I first started as a test engineer most cars were only just getting airbags and seatbelts were just developing to have pretensioners. The roads were a very different place.”
In the early days of her career, it wasn’t always so pleasant to see how the sausage was made. “I used to drive an original Rover Mini. Now there is a car that didn’t crash well. At the time they were putting the driver’s airbag into the steering wheel. I remember watching the crash test quite late one night and afterwards I didn’t want to get in the car to drive home.
“I’ll also always remember doing a test with an estate car where child dummies were sat in the jump seats in the boot. They had seatbelts on, but we did a rear impact and that was horrible. Every now and then you will see a test that makes you feel quite sick.”
この記事は BBC TopGear India の November 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は BBC TopGear India の November 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
The Next Great Family MPV?
“Whoa, that’s a nice-looking Minivan!” Said no one ever.
MG COMET
A LOT OF PEOPLE HAD THOUGHT THIS CAR TO BE COMPLETELY useless when it came out.
BMW i7
WHEN THE i7 PULLED INTO MY GARAGE AND PARKED ITSELF next to the Mercedes EQA and the MG Comet, it just struck me that this is how the future will be.
SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
McLaren's finest faces off Corvette's nat-asp swansong as the Brits and the Americans square up... in a Spanish playground. Expect fireworks
NEXT LEVEL
Thought the 750S was fast? The McLaren P1's successor - the W1 is ready to spread its wings
MANUAL LABOUR
Two cars from opposite ends of the performance spectrum with one crucial thing in common...
PRO VS SLOW
At last, we have our hands on the Valkyrie. But is its performance only accessible for the pros... or can anyone enjoy it?
THE OUTBURST OF OFFROADING
The high-volume market is a point of interest for all manufacturers here in India.
THE BATTLE OF CRUISER-COMMUTERS
WHO DOES THE BEST COMMUTER WORK WHILE NOT BEING A TRUE COMMUTER MOTORCYCLE?
LEAVING EVERYTHING ON THE TRACK
FT. YMRP ROUND 3 From being second, I DNF'd from the race on the last corner