I remember seeing a crash documentary on tv here are some of the things
it mentioned.
1987 Ford Fiesta (Small 700 kg hatch back) v a 1975 RR (2000 kg) 50 mph
Fiesta occupants killed (driver drunk and should have looked before
crossing the duel carriageway), car looks like one of those miniature
tin pie cases. It was hit side on.
RR looks ok, and driver survives but it was a write off, because there
were no crumple zones to protect the strong chassis, the chassis took
the impact, and bent.
There are some Japanese car's with prototype pedestrian air bags, they
fire when you hit a pedestrian, and gently cushion them before the fall
off the car into the gutter.
Air bags in America fire with twice the velocity, 4 times or more the
energy of EC based air bags. This is meant to protect people who refuse
to wear seat belts. As a consequence more children are killed in
accidents in car's with the airbags than car's without. Which would you
rather protect the kid wearing it's seat belt or the adult refusing to
where it's seat belt. So a car like the Spitfire is much safer for
kids, especially infants in rear facing child seats than the front seat
in a car with any air bag.
There was this accident researcher in the late 60's who set out to prove
that high speed impacts were not dangerous, along as the human is
properly with strained. He rigged himself up a test chair, an was
propelled from 100 mph to 0 in 0.5 of a second. Although he black out
he did survive and went to work the next day. If on the other hand had
he not been facing forward, rather side on he would have been dead. (He
didn't seem that keen to prove it).
So I am now looking for an ex-rusian non track armoured personnel
carrier.
--
James Carpenter
Yellow '79 spit wired by a trained marmot
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