Save the Crash-test Dummies by Jennifer Swanson - ADVISABLE

Save the Crash-test Dummies by Jennifer Swanson, 104 pages. NON-FICTION. Peach Tree Publishing Company Inc., 2019, $20.

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

All about safety, this book covers the history of car innovations designed to keep us out of hospitals.  This book is filled with cool facts.  For example, engineers introduced a new bumper that was filled with water to soften the impact of a collision.  Safety belts were only offered as optional in 1956 and cost extra, and it wasn’t until 1911 that a rearview mirror was used in the very first Indianapolis 500 race instead of carrying a passenger to be the spotter. 

Less a story of crash-test dummies and more a story of safety, this book is a quick overview of the history of safety in cars and ends with inflatable airbags and the promise of self-driving cars.  The layout is inviting and easily accessible and the pictures are appealing. 

Michelle in the Middle