Ugly Graham's no crash-test dummy

The Australian Transport Accident Commission is using Graham as the face of its latest road safety project in an effort to highlight just how susceptible humans are to the fatal forces involved in road accidents.

Graham, according to the commission's website, is the creation of a trauma surgeon, a crash investigations expert and an artist.

The idea was to create a virtual human who had evolved to survive high-speed crashes.

His advanced evolutionary adaptations include a rib cage that has sacks that would protect him like airbags in a crash and a flat face that reduces the risk of damage to his nose. Extra fatty tissue around his cheekbones would spread the energy of an impact.

Because the neck is susceptible to injury in a car crash, Graham doesn't have one . His brain is protected with added cerebrospinal fluid and ligaments. His knees are fortified with extra tendons.

Even his skin is thicker and tougher to shield him from cuts and abrasions.

His redesigned body would helped him survive the typical high-speed crashes that claimed the lives of 13802 people worldwide between 2010 and 2011.

The main contributing factors to South African crashes, according to Arrive Alive, are drunk driving and speed.

"In collisions involving vehicles, the speeds are faster, the forces are greater and the chances of survival are slimmer," Transport Accident Commission CE Joe Calafiore said.

"Cars have evolved a lot faster than humans and Graham helps us understand how to protect ourselves from our own mistakes."