Jesus Christ.

[bzarcher]

I got to watch what happens when a Mercedes driver who isn't paying attention decides to change lanes and plow into the side of a Volvo at 65+ MPH.

I hate to say it, but it was a pretty spectacular thing. Absolutely horrible, but you just can't describe the near-explosion of car parts and smoke any other way.

I also am now 100% certain that my brakes work really, really well.

Comments

[alathaniel.livejournal.com]

Scarily, the first thing that came to mind was the one excange between Mal and Wash during Serenity.

"No. No."
"Yes."
"No!"
"YES!"

More serious note - yikes. Glad you're ok.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Amazingly enough? Both drivers were OK. (Or at least OK enough to get out of their cars and scream at each other.) Credit to the German and Swiss engineers.

[dasubergeek.livejournal.com]

While I'd like to take credit for the Volvo (actually, I'm not an engineer, and as of April I'm no longer Swiss), the Volvo is a Swedish car.

And damn... glad you're OK, glad the drivers are OK, massive karma debit coming the way of the Mercedes driver.

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Ahh. Brainfart there. I tried to remember which of the two countries it was made in, and my brain kept coming back to John Travolta in Broken Arrow instead.

I had the shakes for about 5 minutes after that mess - I yanked over to the side of the road, checked on the drivers, and then had to get back to work, unfortunately.

On the one hand, I keep thinking that if I hadn't had to work later than normal before taking Lisa to work on my lunch, I'd have avoided the whole thing, but on the other, it's probably just as well that I was there to see it and call it in to 911, so.

[alathaniel.livejournal.com]

The universe has a strange sense of timing some days. And not limited to comedy, even if those moments are the ones that stand out.

crumpling

[flaggerx.livejournal.com]

The parts coming off are actually quite deliberate and designed into all modern cars. If you open your hood and look at the inner fendewall you'll probably find a set of capsule shaped bumps on each side. Those are crush points designed into unit body cars to absorb energy on impact. Interesting, though many drive SUVs for their supposed 'safety' most are body on frame construction, and while that design has strong points energy absorbtion is not part of that. Many are actually worse ina crash than smaller cars for that reason (though a ton easier to repair after a low speed impact).

It seems like there are two keys to avoiding an accident, give yourself room and pay attention. Amazong how often those two principles are violated.

Re: crumpling

[bzarcher.livejournal.com]

Too right. I admit, I was probably a little over-sensitive the rest of today, but I kept getting the feeling I had a flag tied to my blind spot that other drivers kept trying to snag!

Re: crumpling

[degraine.livejournal.com]

It works out in the country but leave yourself a two (or more) second gap in the city and some idiot immediately thinks it's an opportunity.