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Many movies have scenes where a man is tied to a rope which is tied from a vehicle and he is dragged for a while.

The road usually has a rough surface and may contain obstructions like stones. If a person falls from his vehicle on the road, he gets several injuries.

So, how do they film car drag scenes without injuring the actor/stuntman?

A sample GIF:

enter image description here

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  • 4
    Exceptional protective gear and training.
    – Paulie_D
    Oct 10 '16 at 9:36
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    Hmm. Can you give details?
    – A J ♦
    Oct 10 '16 at 9:37
  • Trying to find a definitive source
    – Paulie_D
    Oct 10 '16 at 9:41
  • what's the source of this gif?
    – Trish Ling
    Nov 25 '20 at 10:16
  • @TrishLing I picked it from a Google search.
    – A J ♦
    Nov 25 '20 at 10:32
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Usually these kinds of stunts are done by some trained stunt men (dupe for the hero), they wear protective gear like lunatic vests. Mostly, you can see car drag scenes on a flat surface, off-road (where the friction is gonna' be less compared to rubberised roads) as it can be easiy performed with necessary protective gear and by a trained stunt man. But when it comes to on-road, they get the help of Computer Graphics.

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    It'd be nice if this answer was fleshed out more, but this is the main gist of it. Also, keep in mind that some stuntmen do get injured doing stunts like this. A lot can go wrong, but proper training will minimize the risks.
    – Johnny Bones
    Oct 20 '16 at 17:20
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    Also, sometimes they dig a channel in the road and put a wheeled platform/dolly in there, or lay down some kind of a track, and mix the camera angles up so you can't see when that setup is used. I think I vaguely remember watching a "Making of Indiana Jones" show where they used that setup.
    – PoloHoleSet
    Oct 20 '16 at 20:28
  • Was just going to comment on that as well @AndrewMattson. I couldn't find the clip but there is a description of it on IMDB, here: imdb.com/title/tt0082971/trivia Basically they lifted the truck, shot it on slower film, and dug a trench so there was more space underneath to prevent drag. Harrison Ford still bruised his ribs.
    – Majaii
    Oct 20 '16 at 20:50
  • @AndrewMattson Can you add that as an answer?
    – A J ♦
    Oct 21 '16 at 5:06

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