The retired IIHS president talks about what was a head-on crash on his BMW

After spending most of his career working on crash tests with the Road Safety Insurance Institute (IIHS), former president Adrian Lund has learned exactly why safety ratings are important. Early last August morning, he was embroiled in a head-on collision and probably owes his life to safety technology in 2020 BMW 540i.

Lunda, who retired from IIHS in 2017 was driving to Savannah, Georgia, last summer and drove to the I95 when just 15 miles (24 km) collided with a BMW 2-Series that was moving incorrectly on an interstate track. He estimated he was driving at about 65 mph (105 km / h) and another car was traveling at about 80 km / h.

“It was a high-speed accident that probably 10 years ago, I wouldn’t be here to talk to you about it,” he said in a video released recently by IIHS.

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Unfortunately, a 29-year-old woman in the village 2016 BMW 228i did not survive the crash. Although her car received high safety ratings when she passed the test, her chances of surviving the accident were greatly reduced because she was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown out of the car on impact.

Lunda 5th series, meanwhile, after the initial impact overturned on the roof. But, fortunately, he did not break a single bone, and, considering everything, he felt fine when the security teams arrived there. He said seeing their faces, even behind masks, was very nice and he got better.

“If you’re hanging up there upside down – the first thing I did was just look to see if I could move my legs because I saw a lot offset failures and I had plenty of room to break with my feet, ”Lund said. “It occurred to me that this is what we were seeking.”

Although he was lucky enough to escape, the disaster did affect Lund. He had cuts and scratches, and for several weeks after the accident he felt dizzy, he suspects, due to a concussion.

“In failure that way, you won’t come out unscathed, ”Lund said. “Given the accident I got in, I had a frontal impact and then a rollover – yes, I was very lucky. The car did its job. “