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My recollection is that offset impact tests were instituted after pretty much everyone admitted the basic flaw in the previous frontal impact test, where the car was driven straight into a wall, meeting it directly head-on with full frontal contact. That test didn't jive with what really happens in accidents. Offset impact tests do.
This is a tough, tough test no doubt, and it represents an extreme situation as regards the frontal area involved and the location of same (directly in front of the driver). But the impact absorbing structures resulting from engineering to pass this test are more likely to save lives out here in the real world. If I'm going to have to pay for cars that are built to safety standards, I want those standards to be as useful and realistic as possible.
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