Yes, new cars really are safer

   / Yes, new cars really are safer #1  

tallyho8

Elite Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2004
Messages
4,530
Location
North of the Gulf of America, west of Westwego
Tractor
Kubota L4400, Kubota ZD326
When you look at this wreck, it is hard to believe that the driver opened the door and walked away with only scratches. She ran into the back of a trailer pulled by a pickup truck hauling a tractor. Don't worry, the tractor only received minor damage. :rolleyes:
Young motorist survives ugly crash on Interstate 59 | NOLA.com
 
   / Yes, new cars really are safer #2  
That is amazing. I think the impact was high on the Saturn and ran diagonally front-left to mid-right. If she had been in passenger seat, I think the outcome would have been different.

Still, no question the better new cars are safer with crumple zones, energy absorbing components and air bags. Of course, all that is more effective if wearing a seat belt.
 
   / Yes, new cars really are safer #3  
Yes, except many of the new safety features were useless here, because vehicles are mostly not designed for this scenario.

The main safety features only work as designed, if you hit something with your bumper.

Most people panic in this satiation, and stand on the brake pedal causing the front suspension to dive. If you have a lot of speed, it can really cause a big drop in the front suspension. If your front end dives low enough to go under the bumper of the vehicle you are hitting, you get a lot more damage. This is because, you are hitting the hardest part of their vehicle, with the softest part of your vehicle.

The trick is to let off the brake pedal at the last second, just as you should do, if you are going to hit a chuck hole, this will allow the front suspension to recover. And the struts to refill. In this case it would have allowed the main safety features, i.e. energy absorbers, and crumple zones, to reduce the damage, and potential for injuries.

Yes, some sophisticated vehicles have computer systems that can help keep the front end from diving.

Survival here had a lot more to do with luck.
 
   / Yes, new cars really are safer #4  
The trick is to let off the brake pedal at the last second, just as you should do, if you are going to hit a chuck hole, this will allow the front suspension to recover.

If you have enough time to do, and think about doing this, you have enough time to avoid the collision.
 
   / Yes, new cars really are safer #5  
I believe that this is more of a case of gol darn lucky than a case of safer cars. If she had been going a bit faster or started stopping any later she would have been part of the wreckage instead of allowing people to use her as a claim that vehicles are safer.
 
   / Yes, new cars really are safer #6  
I agree newer vehicles are for sure safer than past designs, but here I think a lot of this was just the way the car hit, allowing her position in the cab to be spared the worst of the damage. Of course airbags and seatbelts are lifesavers. Heck most cars and trucks had metal dashboards when I was a kid, and no seatbelts. I remember even as a child, thinking about taking a bite out of one of those in event of a collision. Padded Dash was a luxury item for a while in the more expensive cars.. and if you wanted seat belts, you had to order them as an option.

James K0UA
 
   / Yes, new cars really are safer #7  
   / Yes, new cars really are safer #8  
   / Yes, new cars really are safer #9  
   / Yes, new cars really are safer #10  
Shucks! I wish I had that '59 Chevy that they just wasted!

But what Tallyho8 said - new cars are safer. Still, it's almost unbelievable that anyone survived that crash.
 

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