# Crash tests with humans: what's the record for g's?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-tests-with-humans-whats-the-record-for-gs/1022722>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 3, 2025, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-tests-with-humans-whats-the-record-for-gs/1022722 "2025-09-03T20:41:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Timz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Timz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timz)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crash-tests-with-humans-whats-the-record-for-gs/1022722/1 "2025-09-03T20:41:54Z")

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The Wikipedia article on John Paul Stapp says he has the record, 46 g, but maybe that’s just the record for facing forward? The question arises looking at _Aviation Week_ 2 June 1958 p23, which says “an Air Force captain” survived 83 g, facing rearward. Which is 60 mph to zero in 1.5 feet.

Page 15 of the 3 January 1955 issue tells about the Holloman rocket sled: it says the track was 3500 ft long and Stapp accelerated to 632 mph in five seconds, 2800 feet, then coasted for half a second, then stopped in 1.4 seconds. Those figures don’t add up, which maybe is why the claimed 35-g maximum wasn’t the maximum.

(Stapp had dealings with chimpanzees. Mary Roach quoted him: “If chimpanzees could talk, we would soon wish they wouldn’t.”)