Re: crash data (and some empirical data!)

["Randall C. Markarian" <asenna@accessus.net>]

Lee Levitt wrote:
> >Well you hit the wall with the largest surface area which reduced the
> >impact psi, which is one of the reason's that you walked away from the
> >crash......  I doubt that you'd be posting us if you did a 60mph ofset
> >frontal impact..........
> 
> BZZZZT. I don't think so. The human body doesn't care about psi between
> the two mating surfaces, just the speed of decceleration and the hardness
> of newly met surfaces...IOW, whether the end of my car is pointy or broad,
> it don't matter. What does matter is how that portion of the car deforms
> as it takes the energy of the impact. And the front crumple zone will
> handle this energy a hell of a lot better than the side of the car, which
> by and large is set up very stiffly to avoid intrusion, rather than to
> crumple.
> 
> Beyond this, the interior passive safety devices - bag, seat, belt,
> padding, etc, is all largely designed to cushion in a frontal or offset
> collision. You've got squat in a side collision, save your head on the
> glass. Ouch!
> 
> Bottom line - given the choice of two collisions into the same barrier at
> the same speed, and I'd probably want to take it head on...
> 
> Anyway, I think she learned her lesson. Just glad it wasn't broadside!
> <BIG GRIN>

Well this  is a tough one for me to get involved in, but here are my .02:

My mother was killed in a side impact in her 1985 Audi 5000 S wagon.  The reason 
she died, in my opinion was that the other driver was doing over 72 mph (police 
calculation) and the WMB that hit her impacted squarely on the driver door.  
Because the forces were concentrated in a very small area that allow the Audi to 
deform several inches inward  at the driver's door.  Had the area of impact 
between the cars been larger the car would not have deformed enough to cause her 
death.  So you are both right, the greater the impact area between the cars, the 
less concentrated the force and therfore lesser deformation of the car and the 
less severe the injury.  But without side impact beams, don't get broadsided.

-- 

Randall C. Markarian

1990 V8 Quattro
1996 Merc E320

Saint Louis, Missouri