A group of scientists designed a more durable human and accidentally created a Sontaran

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A surgeon, a crash specialist, and an artist walk into a bar. That’s not actually a joke, that’s the start of a bizarre marketing effort known as the Toward Zero road-safety campaign, created by Melbourne, Australia’s Transport Accident Commission.

The concept was to bring the three specialists together and task them with creating a more durable human, specifically a human that has evolved alongside cars, and is able to survive a severe car accident. The idea being that cars have become so powerful, and so fast, that the fragile skin bags inside of them aren’t capable of handling the type consequences that could come from mishandling an automobile. The trio also factored in what it would take for a pedestrian to survive a hit from an oncoming automobile.

The experts were told to come up with a human that was kind of grotesque, a human that could appear on billboards and posters and grab people’s attention. It is scientifically accurate, but also meant make you look. The result is Graham, who looks an awful lot like a Sontaran from Doctor Who.

“The truth is, our cars have evolved a lot faster than we have,” says David Logan, a team member on the project and road safety engineer at the Monash University’s accident research center. “Our bodies are just not equipped to handle the forces in common crash scenarios.”

Graham looks the way he does for very specific reasons. His head looks like a potato so it can offer extra protection for the brain. His face is also concave to take an impact with less damage. The same is true of his neck – or the absence of one. His skin is also thicker, his ribs have an extra layer of airsacks, and he is just generally made to be smacked around a bit.

His legs are also modified so he can avoid a car as a pedestrian. There’s an extra joint in his lower legs that allows him to spring out of the way of an oncoming car.

Check out the video below showing the creation of Graham. And if you happen upon him in a dark alley… well, it was nice knowing you.

Sontar ha!

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