What really kills people in car accidents? - Page 3

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - What really kills people in car accidents? (Page 3 of 3)

Posted: 7/25/2019 1:50:50 PM EDT

[#1]

Immediate death is probably

1) blunt trauma to the head causing a) intracranial hemorrhage b) skull base injury leading to brainstem damage
2) aortic transaction
3) cardiac contusion and/or cardiac shock

Posted: 7/25/2019 1:58:53 PM EDT

[#2]

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65mph to 0mph in 1 second.

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I think top fuel accelerates faster than that. Forces of that magnitude are not too bad if solidly strapped in, but that rarely happens in an accident and things get floppy.

Posted: 7/25/2019 2:00:51 PM EDT

[#3]

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Quoted:
I think top fuel accelerates faster than that. Forces of that magnitude are not too bad if solidly strapped in, but that rarely happens in an accident and things get floppy.

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Quoted:

Quoted:
65mph to 0mph in 1 second.

I think top fuel accelerates faster than that. Forces of that magnitude are not too bad if solidly strapped in, but that rarely happens in an accident and things get floppy.

In an accident the deceleration is basically instantaneous. All you have to do is spread it out a bit and you can survive it.

Posted: 7/25/2019 2:00:54 PM EDT

[#4]

Just like committing suicide by jumping off of something

It's not the jump that kills you, it's the sudden stop

Posted: 7/25/2019 2:03:53 PM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
I know this is an odd question but I have to ask. I’ve been in two mild collisions and one serious. I was doing 45 MPH and t boned someone that ran a red light. Never hit the brakes. My 3 series BMW obviously did a good job at keeping me alive. There was nothing left of the front clip (engine/axle/etc). Other than a fucked up back, I’m fine today. I think.

I see accidents on TV all the time where they show the vehicle resulting in a fatality and I don’t see how someone could have died while wearing a seatbelt.

Does blunt force trama come into play? I assume EMT and cops would be the best to answer my questions here.

It’s just kind of scary. We’ve had a fatality every week this month in my relatively small town. I assume type of car plays a huge factor as well.

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I wish people would stop calling them accidents. They are crashes or collisions, not accidents. An accident is an occurrance without fault.

Posted: 7/25/2019 2:11:17 PM EDT

[#6]

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Quoted:

I think top fuel accelerates faster than that. Forces of that magnitude are not too bad if solidly strapped in, but that rarely happens in an accident and things get floppy.

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At 60 mph the vehicle is moving 88 feet per second...In my wreck it was determined by the cops I was doing 60mph at point of impact with a grader after being hit in the drivers door about 100 feet further up the road...The impact with the grader went from 60 mph to dead stopped in less than 4 foot...I had severely damaged disc in both my neck(3 disc) and my lower back(1disc), but the brain damage(bleed) I think has been a far bigger issue..there were other injuries, but those are the ones that give me the most grief still...

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Posted: 7/25/2019 2:14:48 PM EDT

[#7]

First fatal we responded to was a rollover that rolled down the interstate. Small SUV with a sunroof, which came out, drivers head left bloody splats on every roll.

Posted: 7/25/2019 2:16:09 PM EDT

[#8]

James Dean --too fast to live, too young to die, bye bye (eagles youtube)

vs a Ford. His passenger, Rolf Wütherich, and driver of ford survived.
Mr Turnupseed (Ford driver) walked away from the wreckage with only a bloodied nose and bruising, Dean suffered a broken neck and died shortly after being rushed to hospital.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7285027/Never-seen-photographs-reveal-wreckage-Hollywood-star-James-Deans-fatal-1955-car-crash.html

Posted: 7/25/2019 2:25:35 PM EDT

[#9]

Sudden stoppage.

Posted: 7/25/2019 2:53:47 PM EDT

[#10]

can someone with knowledge address the number of drunks who walk away from accidents and their victims die?

Is it because the victims are usually braking or attempting to avoid an accident and the drunk has all the velocity and mass of his vehicle on his side?

Is it like football where its better to make a hit than to take a hit?

#fuckdrunks

Posted: 7/25/2019 2:55:47 PM EDT

[#11]

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Quoted:
can someone with knowledge address the number of drunks who walk away from accidents and their victims die?

Is it because the victims are usually braking or attempting to avoid an accident and the drunk has all the velocity and mass of his vehicle on his side?

Is it like football where its better to make a hit than to take a hit?

#fuckdrunks

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I am pretty sure what saves the drunks are they are completely relaxed at impact..they rag doll around but they don't have any muscles strained up trying to hold them selves...

Posted: 7/25/2019 3:07:58 PM EDT

[#12]

Fuck this thread, it is triggering my PTSD. I had 3 accidents in 2 years but made it out with just a fractured spine and chronic pain.
2 were the other guys' fault one was mine driving on pain killers (oxycodone). I rear ended two cars at once. I figured it would be best to spread the collision between 2 cars rather than let one absorb it all.
I think I made a good choice, aside from driving while intoxicated.
From that point on all pain pills went in the trash. I would rather be in pain than kill people but that's just me. I didn't get a ticket for DUI, just driving too close.
Now I drive a big ass RAM 1500 brodozer. It aint for the looks, it sure as fuck aint for ease of driving in Atlanta traffic, it's just for safety.

Posted: 7/25/2019 3:13:04 PM EDT

[#13]

Everybody dies of the same thing, lack of blood to the brain.

Posted: 7/25/2019 3:15:45 PM EDT

[#14]

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Inertia is a bitch.

Stuff inside the human body is not designed to change directions in milliseconds, even if the distances travelled aren't very far. Shit tears, shit breaks. That's bad.

The amount of force involved in a car wreck is ridiculous.

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"But! but! but it's not speeding that causes wrecks!!!!ONE"

No, but bringing lots more energy to the scene of the crash doesn't help things.

Posted: 7/25/2019 3:17:02 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
I’ve been in two mild collisions and one serious. I was doing 45 MPH and t boned someone that ran a red light. Never hit the brakes.

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Thats not what I would call a serious crash......

Had a double fatal last week, both were doing 65 and went head on, basically driver-to-driver. Both had seatbelts and airbags.

That.....or getting t-boned by a semi thats doing 70.... Or hitting another car so hard the seatbelt cuts you in half (literally)....or during a head-on, the car crumbles so much it compresses your lungs and suffocates you......or racing your car and spinning out into a tree.....thats how people die.

Posted: 7/25/2019 3:32:06 PM EDT

[#16]

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Fixed it for you.

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That may do it. I know what it feels like to come to a complete stop from 45mph. I did pass out when I first got out the car, but came too shortly after.

My lower back has not forgotten about it though.

Posted: 7/25/2019 3:36:51 PM EDT

[#17]

Lately it's state troopers.

Posted: 7/25/2019 3:41:09 PM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:
can someone with knowledge address the number of drunks who walk away from accidents and their victims die?

Is it because the victims are usually braking or attempting to avoid an accident and the drunk has all the velocity and mass of his vehicle on his side?

Is it like football where its better to make a hit than to take a hit?

#fuckdrunks

View Quote

There is some evidence that alcohol can change the bodies response to injuries in beneficial ways, like less swelling or fluid loss.

Posted: 7/25/2019 3:51:44 PM EDT

[#19]

Just like falling off a building, its not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop at the end...

Posted: 7/25/2019 7:00:45 PM EDT

[#20]

This is something I often wonder about. If only considering a vehicle from a safety perspective ... Would you be better off in:
1. Modern passenger car

2. Arial Atom/ Exocet tube chassis with a racing style seat and 5 point harness. (Is there a street legal HANS type device available?)

3. Class 8 heavy truck (16,000 lbs or so)

My other thought is... Is there a luxury car that is actually "safer" at protecting the occupants during a collision, Than another standard car of the same style? Think Toyota Camry vs Lexus ES or something.

Posted: 7/25/2019 7:24:01 PM EDT

[#21]

Posted: 7/25/2019 7:24:36 PM EDT

[#22]

This is what really kills people in car accidents.

Posted: 7/25/2019 7:42:40 PM EDT

[#23]

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These guys:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a6/26/bb/a626bba9a97a8c25b637f253993ddaea.jpg

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love that show!

Posted: 7/25/2019 7:51:15 PM EDT

[#24]

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This is what really kills people in car accidents.

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Alcohol, and speed are the primary factor in significantly more fatal accident then distracted drivers.
Look up the stats for yourself if you don't believe me, NHTSB publishes them regularly.

Posted: 7/25/2019 8:00:25 PM EDT

[#25]

What kills you in a wreck? Several things. You answered your own question but don't realize it.
First off hitting hard things. Steering wheels, dash, windshield. That causes damage. Then there is the secondary impact of organs hitting the inside of the body cavity that they were never designed to impact. The delicate organs are torn, crushed, shocked into working poorly, if at all. Things also tear from being stretched, like blood vessels. The brain impacting the inside of the skull doesn't need much explanation, This is often a double impact. Coup-Contra Coup impact. Easiest explanation, it bounces around off the front and back (or sides) of the closed skull. There are the rare penetrations of the passenger compartment that cause damage, mostly unsurvivable, but some certainly have.
Being ejected from the vehicle increases your chances of being deaded by 75% Road, trees, sign posts, and the auto itself all become hazards. You don't have a lot of mercy heading your way outside the vehicle.
Best chance of survival? Stay in the seat you started out in. Seat belts keep you there, air bags dampen the soft you from the hard world.
I can't say I never unbuckled a body, but can say I have removed seatbelts from people who were alive that had no excuse what so ever for still being with this world.

Posted: 7/25/2019 8:11:04 PM EDT

[#26]

Quote History

Quoted:
This is something I often wonder about. If only considering a vehicle from a safety perspective ... Would you be better off in:
1. Modern passenger car

2. Arial Atom/ Exocet tube chassis with a racing style seat and 5 point harness. (Is there a street legal HANS type device available?)

3. Class 8 heavy truck (16,000 lbs or so)

My other thought is... Is there a luxury car that is actually "safer" at protecting the occupants during a collision, Than another standard car of the same style? Think Toyota Camry vs Lexus ES or something.

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You will always be safest in a racer designed and built tube chassis, full cage with a properly built, sized, and mounted seat using 5 point restraints and a hemet with a Hanz device..there is a reason race car drivers can take a bad crash at 200 mph and get out and walk away with nothing more then some bruising...

With that said, the road grader operator I hit, had as many injuries as I did including a detached retina and lower back disc damage...The grader weighed 53,000 pds...

Posted: 7/25/2019 9:11:26 PM EDT

[#27]

Quote History

Quoted:
This is something I often wonder about. If only considering a vehicle from a safety perspective ... Would you be better off in:
1. Modern passenger car

2. Arial Atom/ Exocet tube chassis with a racing style seat and 5 point harness. (Is there a street legal HANS type device available?)

3. Class 8 heavy truck (16,000 lbs or so)

My other thought is... Is there a luxury car that is actually "safer" at protecting the occupants during a collision, Than another standard car of the same style? Think Toyota Camry vs Lexus ES or something.

View Quote

Yes, there absolutely are cars with better survival records. Check out https://www.iihs.org/ratings/driver-death-rates-by-make-and-model - Lexus, Volvo, Audi and Mercedes have some SUV's with zero recorded fatalities.

This is my checklist for surviving high speed collisions. Not an expert but I've read way too many NHTSA reports after seeing some bad high speed collisions.

1. Newer, larger cars with good crash test results. I love classic sports cars, but I don't drive one anymore.
2. Vehicle fatality data from IIHS. There are luxury SUV's with no recorded deaths and there are cars from Chevy and Scion that are deathtraps. Even some cars with good crash test results appear to be deadly in the real world.
3. Wear seatbelts always.
4. Never keep anything heavy unsecured in the passenger compartment.
5. Personal health. Obesity increases your chance of dying in a collision by up to 80%. Seatbelts and airbags are not designed for high BMI.
6. Luck

Several posters mentioned sunroofs role in accidents. Not only can you fly out of them during a crash, they can also reduce the load bearing strength of the roof. If I am upside down in my car, I'd like a solid roof please.

Posted: 7/26/2019 7:49:39 AM EDT

[#28]

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Yes, there absolutely are cars with better survival records. Check out https://www.iihs.org/ratings/driver-death-rates-by-make-and-model - Lexus, Volvo, Audi and Mercedes have some SUV's with zero recorded fatalities.

This is my checklist for surviving high speed collisions. Not an expert but I've read way too many NHTSA reports after seeing some bad high speed collisions.

1. Newer, larger cars with good crash test results. I love classic sports cars, but I don't drive one anymore.
2. Vehicle fatality data from IIHS. There are luxury SUV's with no recorded deaths and there are cars from Chevy and Scion that are deathtraps. Even some cars with good crash test results appear to be deadly in the real world.
3. Wear seatbelts always.
4. Never keep anything heavy unsecured in the passenger compartment.
5. Personal health. Obesity increases your chance of dying in a collision by up to 80%. Seatbelts and airbags are not designed for high BMI.
6. Luck

Several posters mentioned sunroofs role in accidents. Not only can you fly out of them during a crash, they can also reduce the load bearing strength of the roof. If I am upside down in my car, I'd like a solid roof please.

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While I don't discount those stats, they are univariate. Luxury sedans drivers are older, drive a lot more conservatively, and are less likely to be on the road at drunk time. I bet that minus a few weather and medical issues, they have almost no single car accidents. Until they hit the buy here pay here lots...

Posted: 7/26/2019 11:35:02 AM EDT

[#29]

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While I don't discount those stats, they are univariate. Luxury sedans drivers are older, drive a lot more conservatively, and are less likely to be on the road at drunk time. I bet that minus a few weather and medical issues, they have almost no single car accidents. Until they hit the buy here pay here lots...

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That is true, luxury cars have very few (mostly zero) fatal single car accidents. But they also have far fewer multi-car fatalities as well according to IIHS. Sports cars on the other hand have a ton of both.

Does it make me more conservative if I buy a luxury car though?