Found this on the web (sorry can't remember where it was months ago), 40mph frontal crash - I don't think I'd want to be in it at 100!!

 

I think hitting a stationary object at 100 MPH in a road car and surviving is nearly impossable. But there are many variables.

We've all seen wrecks in auto racing that looked fatal but the drivers walked away. On the other hand, we've seen "not-so-bad" looking wrecks to find that the driver was killed (Earnhardt).

 

I'll second that... the energy in the 100mph crash would be what, over 6 times that of the 40mph crash?

Yikes!

 

35 MPH is equivalant to dropping three stories straight down on the nose.

100MPH is equivalant to 10 stories straight down on the nose.

 

I'm glad to hear that people on this board are taking Youngs question with the seriousness that it deserves. I think Benzo's picture of the E class wreck makes a strong statement as well. It is true that this 16 yr old driver was inexperienced, but this could very easily have been anyone, experienced or not. I bet many people have had an experience like MB-BOB, where something unexpected happened. I remember someone on this board wrecking their car because a dog ran out in front of them, and he swerved out of the way and hit a wall.

Like everyone else, I enjoy "putting the pedal to the medal" every now and then. But as I've gotten older, I find myself doing it less and less, and I'm more conscious of the road, traffic, visibility conditions than I used to be.

 

...and just to emphasize... it's really NOT a "getting older" issue, IMO. It IS a "getting experienced" issue, instead. I could have said a "getting wiser" issue, but that's not really true. Experience will teach you, regardless of how "wise" you are.

I am no "Granny" with my car. Just much more aware with experience that the freakiest things can happen.

That's also why the only old motorcyclist is an EX-motorcyclist. Not throwing any flames. Just trotting out a catch phrase you can giggle about with fond memories of the forum when you use it 30-years from now.

 

This reminds me of an accident that killed a high school friend of mine. (Keep in mind that I'm only 19 now.)

It was Oct. 6, 2000, my birthday, and he was driving home from a party around 1AM out on a rural road. He was driving his 98 (I believe) black Dodge Ram, and was going about 40 km/h over the posted speed limit. He was on a gravel road, and didn't see the bend in it. His truck went over the edge, into the ditch, hit the side of the ditch, flipped over in the air, and landed in a farmers field upside down. Since it was in a rural area, no one found him for 6 hours. The weather was below freezing for most of the night. Very unfortunately, he did not make it. He had one other passenger in the truck, who also went to high with me, who did survive. The only reason, they say, that the passenger survived is because the body heat from the dying driver kept him alive.

It's horrible to see people die so young! Especially when you know them. It really hit us all hard going to that funeral.

Tim

(BTW: benzo, have you read that book?)

 

I prefer a version of the classic pilot's motto;

There are old bikers,and there are bold bikers, but there are no old, bold bikers...

 

I agree with you 100%, I'm only 23 but have had enough unexpected things happen to me on the road while speeding to make me slow down. My girlfriend and friends joke that I drive to slow( mind you usually 5 - 15 miles over speed limit), none of them understand that in a split second your life can change for the worse. I once helped some people that had been and an accident where their car flipped several times, luckily they lived but with scars that'll stay with them forever. Sorry for the sermon but excessive speeding just isn't safe no matter how experieced you are.

Sal

 

Not to expose too much of my nerdiness, but according to my quick calculations... if 35mph = 3 stories, 100mph is closer to 25 stories!

Explanation: At 1G, 35 mph = 1.6 seconds, 100 mph = 4.6 seconds... 35mph takes 41 feet, 100mph takes 340 feet... Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a while and I went through it kinda fast... and of course this neglects drag...

Any skydivers here know how long it takes them to hit terminal velocity???

 

LOL!!! This post also found me trying to remember the calculations for Newton's law, and terminal velocity! I remember Newton's law as being Force= Mass times Acceleration. As for sky diving (I am not a skydiver), I think I remember something about a 160 lbs man hitting terminal velocity at about 120 MPH (give or take). I think acceleration is about 10 meters per second every second. Think this way: If TV is around 120, than hitting a wall at 120 would be the same as jumping out of a plane w/o a parachute.