Crumple zones are parts of a car’s body that are deliberately designed to deform and crush in a crash so that you don’t have to.

Quick Scoop: What Do Crumple Zones Do?

  • They absorb impact energy by bending, folding, and crumpling in a controlled way instead of staying rigid.
  • They spread crash forces out over a larger area so no single point (like your seat area) takes the full hit.
  • They slow down the deceleration of the car and its occupants by making the crash last a bit longer in time (fractions of a second), which greatly reduces the force on your body.
  • They protect the passenger cabin (“safety cell”) by sacrificing the front and rear ends of the car so the interior stays as intact as possible.
  • They work together with seatbelts and airbags to cut the risk and severity of injuries in real-world crashes.

In short: crumple zones let the car take the damage in a smart, controlled way so that you’re more likely to walk away. Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.