A couple points here.
Accident avoidance is great, and definitely the way to go if at all
possible. But it has a LOT more to do with the way you drive (skill)
than what (car) you drive. This is the first thing you learn when you
take a motorcycle education class. Riders who are formally taught to
ride are a LOT less likely to be involved in an accident. Something
like 93% of riders who are involved in an accident had no formal
instruction (Source: The Hurt Report). Same goes for car drivers.
As for cars "self destructing" there is a lot of energy absorbed when
these crumple zones do their thing. Same thing goes when cars loose
parts in an accident. The idea being to absorb energy rather than
transmitting it to the vehicle occupants. And this works at ANY
speed. But it is CRITICAL at high speed. Most of the trauma that a
person experiences in a high speed (say greater than 50 mph) comes not
from the parts of the car hitting the body, but parts of the body
hitting the skeletal structure (Deceleration trauma). I have some
experience with this as a technical inspector for USAC and then the
Indy Racing League. While it is amazing how much force the human bod
can withstand, there are limits. Once those limits are reached, the
force of deceleration is almost always fatal. This is why you see
accidents in racing that look absolutely horrible, where the car is
reduced to rubble, but drivers get out and walk away. Then there are
others, were the car looks virtually untouched, but the driver is
seriously injured or killed.
I love my LBC, and I will continue to drive it, even on the
interstate. But I know the risks, and as far a safety is concerned,
these cars are relics.
John
On 4/25/05, David Lieb <dbl@chicagolandmgclub.com> wrote:
> Amen! I have (obviously) gotten tired of people telling me how "unsafe" my
> Midget is, when real-world evidence says otherwise, theories be damned.
> Accident avoidance is much more useful than resistance ("resistance is
> futile"), but a car that has been designed to self-destruct in a 35mph
> accident scares me at 55.
> David Lieb
> 1972 RWA Midget
>
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= Never offend people with style when you =
= can offend with substance --- Sam Brown =
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= Never offend people with style when you =
= can offend with substance --- Sam Brown =
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