Thread: Passenger Car Safety Cells

It is compared to a 1.1L Fiesta that I started to drive in the UK, and the cost of insuring that 5 years ago was 1500GBP a year as a 24 year old male. Compared to a 4L V6 in a car twice the size. Insurance would not touch you in the UK. As a 20 year old male, in the UK you would not get insured on a 4L V6, unless you had some very rich parents and even then I doubt it. I struggled when I got a 1.6L.

So a 1.1L may still be able to hit 100Mph given the wind and a down hill stretch, but its not comfortable and you certainly know that you are going pretty fast as the engine screams at you, not to mention the road noise, which is fairly well insulated out in larger car.

EDIT - I am not saying that driving smaller cars would stop this happening - clearly not, physics are physics. High speed into a immovable object is never going to be a pretty result. And you still get idiot drivers, but it must have some sort of impact.

The report on the telly said the car may have been travelling at up to 200KPH - if that is the case, then there is nothing that would have saved them...

As sad as it is, it is just another example of natural selection...

Unfortunately I have to agree that the only thing that could have prevented death in this crash was the driver.

No safety features, speed limiter, or driver education were going to help.

Any impact with a significant fixed object at much above running pace is likely to result in injury of some sort.
At 60kph hitting something big and virtually immovable is likely to cause death even in some of the safest of vehicles.

A few years ago Laurie Sparke (Holden's manager of advanced engineering at the time) said:
"Running head-on into a tree at 80 km/h is unsurvivable with current technology"
"A side impact at 50 km/h into a tree is also unsurvivable with current technology."
"The three key factors are vehicle crash performance, road system design and the driver. By the driver, I mean his car control skills, certainly, but more
important is the ability to recognise potential danger and be proactive about
it."

I think the last line is the most critical for everyone in regard to being your own primary safety feature. Don't put yourself into a position of likely harm and it is unlikely you will be hurt.
Sad but true.

Several possible causes; street racing, alcohol fuelled bravado and derring do, very misguided and irresponsible, also one possible overlooked here is a suicide pact, there were no brake or skid marks and the speed was above and beyond excessive to do that sort of damage. Terrible waste of young life all the same, glad I am not their parents, poor folk.

Originally Posted by roverfan

A stock v6 commodore isn't big and powerful

Although not big, but at 190 Kw (255HP), a high power to weight ratio, and capable of 200 plus kays per hour, I would say they ain't too bad as far being Powerful goes.

Cheers, Mick.

Originally Posted by roverfan

A stock v6 commodore isn't big and powerful

Depends what you compare it too. It is big compared to the majority of cars in the world, although certainly not in the biggest range, and the power/weight ratio is very high compared to most of them - and is (much) higher than that of an out and out sports car of forty years ago, and higher than that of what would be regarded as a high performance saloon twenty years ago.

John

To give an example of what is survivable - today near Gulgong a commodore (at least I think that is what it was - bit hard to tell) had a dispute with a train at a level crossing and was carried 250m by the train. The wreckage was not all that different from the one in this thread, but there was no fire. The driver and a child passenger have been flown to Sydney with facial injuries, the adult passenger was uninjured.

John

Given up on feeling sorry for these ***** but still the world produces them.
I'm sure this is going to **** Christmas well and truly for the families from here on in. The families I do feel for.
For those who haven't seen or heard, this was on Riverside Drive not 400m from Police Central in Perth.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/west...-1226226382165

This one 10 days ago in Bakers Hill

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/west...-1226217961525



Using Capitals, the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse or helping your uncle jack off a horse...