Today’s modern automobiles are loaded with safety features as advanced as stability control, and as simple as seat belts. We simply cannot underscore enough how much safer today’s cars are then the cars of even two decades ago, before airbags were standard and ABS was a “luxury” option. In large part we can thank the NHTSA, and their tireless destruction of brand new cars, for advancements in automotive safety.

While perusing YouTube online, we came across these three NHTSA crash test videos of the 2012 Ford Mustang. While we normally cringe at videos of crushed Mustangs, these noble steeds died for a higher purpose…so lets at least get some entertainment value out of them.

All three videos from the NHTSA show multiple views from three of the NHTSA’s six crash test categories. The accidents on display in these videos are side-impact with a pole, side impact with a car, and frontal impact into a wall. The Mustang scored pretty well in all these categories, garnering a 4-star overall rating in all three tests.

Still, the Mustang had its strong points, and its weak points. In the frontal crash test, for example, the passenger’s side rating was five stars, but the driver’s side was only four. And for side impact, the 2012 Mustang garnered only three stars out of five for passenger side safety.

That doesn’t mean the Mustang isn’t safe; far from it. But it does mean that, under the new NHTSA testing criteria, there is room for improvement. Besides, if the Chevy Camaro can garner a 5 star overall rating, why can’t the Mustang?