Only 2 of the 9 SUV's passed the safety crash tests

intheburbs wrote:

wilber1 wrote:
That's the whole point, it's the larger vehicles mass that makes the collision more dangerous, not the smaller vehicles lack of mass.

Now you're just arguing semantics. The bottom line is the occupant in the diesel will experience less force on their body. That's all I'm trying to say. The occupant in the heavier vehicle has a better chance.

Let's speak hypothetically with a semi-educated guess. The impact slows the diesel from 50 to 25 MPH. To the occupant of the diesel, it's the equivalent of hitting a brick wall at 25 MPH. The bug's velocity after impact is 25 MPH in the opposite direction. That's the equivalent of hitting a wall at 75 MPH. Who's more likely to escape with minimal injury?

Not really, you are only safer in a larger vehicle if everyone else is in a smaller vehicle. If everyone is in a larger vehicle you are less safe simply because of the amount of energy that must be absorbed in a collision. Twice as much energy must be absorbed when two 4000 lb vehicles collide than when two 2000 vehicles collide.

wilber1 wrote:
That's the whole point, it's the larger vehicles mass that makes the collision more dangerous, not the smaller vehicles lack of mass.

Now you're just arguing semantics. The bottom line is the occupant in the diesel will experience less force on their body. That's all I'm trying to say. The occupant in the heavier vehicle has a better chance.

Let's speak hypothetically with a semi-educated guess. The impact slows the diesel from 50 to 25 MPH. To the occupant of the diesel, it's the equivalent of hitting a brick wall at 25 MPH. The bug's velocity after impact is 25 MPH in the opposite direction. That's the equivalent of hitting a wall at 75 MPH. Who's more likely to escape with minimal injury?

Who has a better chance of surviving this impact? The diesel occupant, or the SUV occupant?

CLICK HERE

intheburbs wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

wilber1 wrote:
Less kinetic energy is one reason a Smart Car can survive the same barrier test as an Escalade even though it has very little crush zone. That and an extremely strong passenger cage.

On the money Wilber. Really good posts Ben.

And now a little question:
A 2000lb bug and an 80,000 diesel hit each other.
Who imparts more energy on who?

A grape and a bowling ball hit each other.
Who imparts more energy on who?

Sorry Ben and Wilber, you don't get to answer. You have an unfair advantage of understanding. :B Lets let some other people answer this one.

Hint: The answer is in both Ben and Wilber's really good posts.

So, you're saying you'd rather be in the 2,000-lb bug?

I'll answer your question with a question. The bug and the diesel are both traveling at 50 mph and hit head-on. What is the aftermath of the impact? In other words, what is the resulting velocity of each of the vehicles after the impact? Which occupants are subject to greater forces?

That's the whole point, it's the larger vehicles mass that makes the collision more dangerous, not the smaller vehicles lack of mass. If you are both in bugs you would be no worse off than if you were both in diesels. In fact, you would probably be better off because cars are subject to more severe crash standards than trucks. Not only that but the car has more active safety, it is much more agile and can stop faster.

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

wilber1 wrote:
Less kinetic energy is one reason a Smart Car can survive the same barrier test as an Escalade even though it has very little crush zone. That and an extremely strong passenger cage.

On the money Wilber. Really good posts Ben.

And now a little question:
A 2000lb bug and an 80,000 diesel hit each other.
Who imparts more energy on who?

A grape and a bowling ball hit each other.
Who imparts more energy on who?

Sorry Ben and Wilber, you don't get to answer. You have an unfair advantage of understanding. :B Lets let some other people answer this one.

Hint: The answer is in both Ben and Wilber's really good posts.

So, you're saying you'd rather be in the 2,000-lb bug?

I'll answer your question with a question. The bug and the diesel are both traveling at 50 mph and hit head-on. What is the aftermath of the impact? In other words, what is the resulting velocity of each of the vehicles after the impact? Which occupants are subject to greater forces?

wilber1 wrote:
Less kinetic energy is one reason a Smart Car can survive the same barrier test as an Escalade even though it has very little crush zone. That and an extremely strong passenger cage.

On the money Wilber. Really good posts Ben.

And now a little question:
A 2000lb bug and an 80,000 diesel hit each other.
Who imparts more energy on who?

A grape and a bowling ball hit each other.
Who imparts more energy on who?

Sorry Ben and Wilber, you don't get to answer. You have an unfair advantage of understanding. :B Lets let some other people answer this one.

Hint: The answer is in both Ben and Wilber's really good posts.

Less kinetic energy is one reason a Smart Car can survive the same barrier test as an Escalade even though it has very little crush zone. That and an extremely strong passenger cage.

just buzzed in for lunch and checking this thread and noticed that my analogy
might be lost on many...so this video to show what meant...

Notice that when he lifts and drops one ball...only one ball is moved on the
other end.

Then when he drops two balls, only two balls are moved, etc

The kinetic energy is transferred to the mass of balls and only enough to move
whatever is transmitted from the same number of balls will be moved

Of course there is no crumple zone stuff, but direct and is the basics of this
thread...crash transfer of kinetic energy and how that is mitigated via crash
crumple zones

Newton's Cradle with bowling balls


This one guy talks a bit deeper into the laws of physics of this topic

Newton's Cradle explained

Forgot to touch on race cars and how they manage deceleration of the body without
crumple zones

GMCSMOKE is smack on...their crumple zones are with the collapse of parts and
the tearing off of parts. Plastic parts (carbon fiber) explode after they consume
enough energy

Also designed sequencing of failure

Meaning that the inner parts might have grade 8 fasteners and as you move farther
away, grade 5's and/or smaller margins to have them fail 'first'

Legendary Dale Earnhardt's death caused NASCAR to make changes to rules
that dictate how to decelerate the body and in his case...the head

His impact was NOT very hard, nor going very fast...

It can be built like a tank and the vehicle survive, but occupants might not

Again, key is the rate of deceleration, or rate of change, for the person (all parts)

Just noodle any of the Sci-Fi movies where they jump to light speed in a flash...

Unless they have some mechanism to keep everyone inside the vessel from flying
to the back of the vessel to become ink spots 'back there'...won't work.

No difference between that analogy and a crash...just different directions of
'the rate of change' in speed

The rate of change for the body and most importantly the head...the brain from
smacking the inside of the skull, is the key to managing a crash

Suspend a bowling ball and soccer ball on a length of rope anchored on the same
eye bolt in the ceiling

The length of rope is sized to have both balls meet in their equator

Lift both up the same angle away from vertical to be horizontal

Let go of both at the same time

When they meet/crash into each other at the bottom of their swing arc...which
on will bounce farther away from the impact at vertical?

The one with less mass, therefore less kinetic energy will bounce farther away
from the contact point.

gmcsmoke wrote:
Are you really that clueless? A F1 car is not built like a tank and is designed to shed parts to dissipate energy. The driver is safe in these cars due to the fact they have a 5 point safety belt holding them in place along with a hans devise to protect their neck from lateral movement along with a carbon fiber seat molded to their body to minimize bodily movement.

So, the titanium roll structure is just there for looks? All a person needs to survive a 200 MPH crash is to be held tightly in place?

This is directly from the official Formula 1 site - Click here

" Its roles as structural component and safety device both require it to be as strong as possible. " Or, in layman's terms, built like a tank?