This Horrifying Collision Is Why Sweden's "Moose Test" Exists

The sad event of large wildlife meeting moving vehicles is common in rural areas around the globe. But with a full-grown moose, such collisions can get horrifying real quick. This video showing a wrecker crew removing a massive dead moose from a Ford Focus Estate shows how violent one of these impacts can be. Let’s not forget, this kind of carnage is why Swedish car magazine Teknikens Värld has, since the 1970s conducted their famous moose test.

The footage shared on Facebook shows a large crane lifting the dead remains from what’s basically the cabin of the Focus. It’s unclear at what speed the collision happened, but it’s easy to see that the moose completely crushed the front end, roof, and ultimately landed on top of the driver and front passenger. Judging by the car’s Polish European Union plates, we presume this crash happened somewhere in the Nordic region of Europe, where moose sightings are common.

An adult male moose can weigh as much as a half a ton with females tipping the scales at around 800 pounds. Hitting an animal of such gargantuan proportions at roadway speeds is nearly the equivalent of hitting a brick wall. But what makes hitting a moose even worse is that its massive body can to tumble into the passenger cell of a vehicle as a car sweeps it off its hooves.

For this very reason, countries like Sweden have a crash-test standard they literally call the “moose test.” The test determines how well a car handles a high-speed, last-minute evasive maneuver, just like the one necessary to avoid a big ‘ole moose. Having this standard essentially exemplifies that the best way to survive a crash with a moose is to avoid hitting it in the first place.

Even with today’s crash safety standards and technology, the meeting of moose and car can lead to serious injury and potentially have deadly consequences. There’s no word about the status of the Focus’ front occupants, but we sure hope luck was on their side.

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