According to the police, two 16 year-olds were seriously injured after being thrown from a convertible when it collided with another vehicle during an impromptu motorcade in Mühlheim an der Ruhr, Germany. It is thought the teenagers were sitting on the back of the convertible whilst celebrating the German team's victory over England. A further six young people have been injured in incidents in Bavaria and Hesse.
Allianz warns: Fans risk fatal injury
Download
Over-exuberant behavior is often witnessed during these spontaneous car parades. "Passengers sit on the windowsills, hang out of the vehicles or lounge on the hoods of convertibles. If there is a crash, in none of these cases are the fans protected by the number one life-saving device, the seatbelt," says Christoph Lauterwasser, Head of the Allianz Center for Technology (ACT). "And that can have fatal consequences."
Testers at the Allianz research center in Ismaning near Munich simulated a vehicle with fans on board colliding with a stationary vehicle at 40 km/h. The crash test is intended to show the dangers of not riding safely in a vehicle during a car parade. The test vehicle occupants were two dummies not wearing seat belts and one dummy belted up correctly.
Buckling up is so important - even with fan driving and when in a festive mood
"In a real crash, the fans not wearing seatbelts would very probably have suffered serious, perhaps even fatal injuries," says Lauterwasser. "So: even when you're celebrating, when you've got the windows open and the top down, make sure you wear your seat belt!"
As with all content published on this site, these statements are subject to our Forward Looking Statement disclaimer.
Link to the disclaimer