According to Swedish car safety specialist Claes Tingvall, GM has wrapped up a multi-year project which used dead human bodies instead of crash dummies. Specifically, the tests were made with Saab automobiles.

Tingvall told the Swedish Newspaper Expressen, that people had donated their bodies for the tests. He said the bodies aided researcher in better design of crash dummies, and, of course, see first-hand injuries sustained by human bodies in car accidents.

The article, in the English language website, The Local, says neither Saab or GM has acknowledged using human cadavers in any tests.

A Saab spokesperson, Christer Nilsson is quoted in Expressen as saying,

“We are with GM through thick and thin. We conduct our own research and try to find other methods to achieve our results, with the help of computers, for example.”

I might mention the image you see came from the pages of Expressen, and if you go there, I hope your Swedish is good. I found no way to convert to English.

Photo of BioPower ladies’ t-shirt courtesy of Saab