How does this happen?

I was on a road trip yesterday in my old 1990 Ford E350 camper van. Driving along I noticed these little clear decals Ford put on the front door glass at the factory. It reads "Together We Can Save Lives" with a picture of a seat belt buckled up.

Me Again wrote:
Young girl that died did NOT have her seat beat on! Chris

Yep no seat belt thrown from the truck and most likely run over be the Mazda. My son now has a plate in his right arm because he didn't have a seat belt on. The driver lost control hit the center barrier and the car rolled on its top and slid over 200 feet. None of the four passengers were seat belted. Luckily Jake was the only one injured.

Seat belts save lives by keeping you in the vehicle and holding you in place via the pretensioners (sp) to keep you further away from the airbags.

Note, the airbags will not deploy if your seat belt is not buckled! Also the bags won't deploy if the pretensioners are not working.

Don

I've seen many images of Suburbans being flipped or tilted by Mini Coopers. Total shame as to what happens. But then I tell my friends and family the reason why I always belt up, wear motorcycle gear, or stand behind a barrier if I'm stopped at a freeway. You don't do it because you expect to get hit everyday, you do it because it only takes 1 time. And I always drive home the point that it only takes 1 time for something bad to happen and alter your life, so you always have to be ready for it. From watching the vid, it seems like the truck was just starting to accelerate when that SUV blew the light and hit. Judging by the pics of the truck, I wonder if a seatbelt would had even helped? Possibly? But then roof crush standards weren't a huge issue until around 2010 or so, the truck obviously hales from much earlier a vintage.

Young girl that died did NOT have her seat beat on! Chris

Drivers side of an approx 3,000 lb bullet smacks the passenger side of
an approx 7 lb pickup

Bullet spins

Pickup spins and flips to be stopped against a semi to their left
stopped at the light. That semi is facing 90* to the Pickup

Pickup is a 4x4 and the passenger side tire/wheel took the majority of
the force

To hit, then flip an approx 7,000 lb, high center of gravity pickup would
take lots and lots of SPEED from an approx 3,000 lb car

The pickup frame is bent, as you can see the bed is no longer in line
with the cab.

The young girl who died most likely hit her body and head on the
passenger side door. And bet that since she did not have her belt on
that she was wedged underneath the now upside down pickup cab.

Since the semi was stopped...and...that the pickup moved into the
intersection and over to the car's lane...the light was red long enough
for all that

Sad and needless because our society has laws that allow us to 'TRUST'
in our society...that at a stop light...that cross traffic will stop and that
they will be obeying the speed limit...

spoon059 wrote:
Terrible tragedy, I assumed the driver of the Mazda lost her life... surprised to see it was the front seat passenger of the truck. If the truck had been stationary, it probably would have been a different story. The fact that the truck was moving greatly increased the chances of rollover. That Mazda had to have been cruising to flip a truck twice as heavy though. I'm amazed the driver and infant in the Mazda are okay.

Lots of traffic fatalities, lots of distracted or inattentive drivers. I hope people use this as a wake up call and spend a little more time paying attention to the road and a little less time staring at the GPS, putting on makeup, eating, jabbering on the phone, etc.

This is what I thought as well.

rhagfo wrote:
I believe that the air bag deployment is triggered by weight! Empty front seat no belt warning light, put about 20# on the seat and the seat belt warning light comes on and the bag is activated.

Yes, Very Tragic crash,you wondering if running the light was due to the driver being distracted, or intentional.

Unless they changed something it is the complete opposite. The cars I have been in (I rent a lot of cars for work) if you put something light on the passenger seat like a computer bag it will turn off the airbag. I believe the theory is small passengers may not tolerate the airbag in a collision. I have never seen a seat belt warning light for the passenger side with my bag on the seat. But often see the airbag light on (deactivated) doing the same. This is obviously vehicle specific but typical of what I see in the ones I rent.

In PA an Acura sedan slammed into a Lehigh School bus and rolled the bus onto its roof. You would t think this could happen but logic sometimes gets defied.

Terrible tragedy, I assumed the driver of the Mazda lost her life... surprised to see it was the front seat passenger of the truck. If the truck had been stationary, it probably would have been a different story. The fact that the truck was moving greatly increased the chances of rollover. That Mazda had to have been cruising to flip a truck twice as heavy though. I'm amazed the driver and infant in the Mazda are okay.

Lots of traffic fatalities, lots of distracted or inattentive drivers. I hope people use this as a wake up call and spend a little more time paying attention to the road and a little less time staring at the GPS, putting on makeup, eating, jabbering on the phone, etc.

Chuck_thehammer wrote:
its mechanics/ physics ... the right front wheel assembly was broken off.. the remaining broken front suspension.. dug into the pavement, that corner of the truck being LOWER ... and momentum pushed the truck over.


very sad. young lost of Life. I always LOOK both ways... even with a green light.

with cell phones, texting, big deal radios/CD music... more than ever.

So you are saying that the wheel assembly broke off on the side opposite impact?