A car's crumple zone is the area that is designed to give in the event of a crash. This makes a crash look worse than it is, but it also makes the car safer--by giving way to an outside force rather than transferring it onto the passengers, the crumple zone shields them by absorbing the brunt of the crash.
The crumple zones are in the front and rear of the car. This means that in the event of a crash, any force is transferred to them rather than the middle of the car where the passengers are.
Crumple zones were first incorporated into cars in 1953 by the Mercedes-Benz corporation.
The effect of crumple zones is that cars are substantially safer because weakening the front and rear of the car strengthens the middle; not only does force collect in the front and rear, the middle is also further strengthened by beams and other reinforcements. So, instead of a little bit of protection through the whole car, there is a lot of protection in the middle, where it matters most.
