Most of us drive a car, or at least ride in one, every single day.
But as they say, familiarity breeds contempt. Cars are so ubiquitous that people don’t always appreciate how dangerous they can be.
That attitude can lead to careless driving and serious spikes in car-related deaths and injuries, which is already one of the leading causes of accidental death.
Fortunately, people all over the world are raising awareness about reckless driving and employing every possible instructional tool, from online viral campaigns to this amazing PSA about distracted driving.
Now, Australia has upped the game, introducing a PSA so shocking and grotesque that it’s already making waves across the internet for its provocative, disturbing message about what human beings would actually look like if we were designed to survive high-speed crashes.
Scroll through the gallery below to learn more about this disturbing, but effective, tactic, and what inspired the artists behind it.
"Meet Graham."
That's the slogan behind the latest campaign from Australia's Transport Accident Commission, and it's also an invitation to take a moment with their newest spokesperson, Graham.
Graham, pictured above, is a grotesque humanoid rendering of what we would look like if we had evolved to survive long-form crashes.
Graham is the brainchild of the artist Patricia Piccinini, who sought to anatomically recreate a humanesque creature that simulates what would look like if car crashes were built into our genetic makeup.
According the Meet Graham website, "… Graham shows us what we might look like if we were built to survive on our roads. He’s a reminder of just how vulnerable our bodies really are…"
They emphasize that they aren't talking about Nascar speeds, either. The human body is incredible vulnerable even at speeds as low as 20 mph.
Graham is designed with a variety of anatomical adaptations.
These would allow him to survive much more easily in a car wreck than would an ordinary human being.
As a result, Graham looks monstrous, and a bit like a thumb, but is much hardier than an ordinary human.
Take, for example, Graham's face, brain, and skull.
Our skulls are fragile and impact easily to avoid crushing the brain.
Graham, on the other hand, has the same-sized brain as we do, but an extremely dense skull and lots of extra ligaments to cradle the brain in the event of an impact.
Graham's face has also been adapted to further protect the brain and to shield the many delicate sensory organs found in the face.
His face is virtually flat, with little in the way of protruding facial bones, which are delicate and easily shattered in ordinary people.
His delicate eyes, ears, lips, and nose are wrapped and protected by folds of fatty tissue that serve as padding and protection.
Graham's chest is covered in loose, flabby skin which looks unsightly to us, but serves a greater purpose.
The flaps of skin slightly resemble less than shapely pectoral muscles, but are actually anatomical airbags, designed to encase the chest and protect the organs in a collision.
In between the "airbags" are Graham's ribs which are sturdy and widespread to absorb force and keep it from hurting the internal organs.
Even Graham's feet and legs have been reoriented to improve his vehicular survival rates.
Instead of ordinary knees, Graham has knees that can bend in any direction, which means that the joints can never be forced in the wrong direction by a crash.
His feet, meanwhile, are modeled after those of a goat or deer. They are jointed above the ankle to provide greater flexibility if he's in the car, and better reflexes if he's a pedestrian approached by a car.
Be sure to watch the video below to learn more about Graham and the dangers of driving.
If you think more people should be aware of just how dangerous cars are, please SHARE this strange sculpture on Facebook!
