MB 600 in Princess Diana wreck

[quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)]

In message <970831152746_265387740@emout03.mail.aol.com> Kwattro@aol.com writes:

> I think that any car hitting it's roof at 100 mph would not fare well.  I've
> seen worse crashes at 50 mph.  In this case, I doubt anything short of an
> M1-A1 tank would have allowed the passengers to survive.  Mercedes has an
> excellently designed car, full of just as many safety features as the Audi.
>  One begins to wonder of the credentials of the driver......or the behavior
> of the other driver.....

The media here is talking of 100kph - 60mph.  I've survived a multiple end-over-
end at 85mph in a Ford (Granada - Merkur?) but that wasn't in a wholly enclosed 
concrete box.  In this case, 100% of the impact absorption was done by the 
car.  As to whether an A8 would have fared any better - wouldn't it be great if 
we could predict the exact nature of the accident that's got our number on it?
 
If I'm going to lose a front tyre at speed on an Autobahn - I want to be in a 
Mercedes.  If I'm going to have to out-manoeuvre someone having a big moment, I 
want to be in a quattro.  If I'm going to get T-boned sitting at the lights - 
an ovloV.

I agree with the comment, BTW, that the rear section looked survivable.  I'll 
also bet they weren't belted in.  One shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but the 
British Royal Family has a little habit of behaving as if the laws of the land 
don't apply to them.

The driver has been described as "a security guard from the Ritz".  I cannot 
imagine a professional driver getting himself into such a situation.

-- 
 Phil Payne
 Committee Member, UK Audi [ur-]quattro Owners Club