Thread: Passenger Car Safety Cells

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Today's ABC Online is showing an image of a Holden Commodore which hit a palm tree at a high rate of knots.



We are hearing about new cars being safer because of the passenger safetycell and crumple zones, but this car has split in two with a whole side relatively undamaged.

How can that be a safety cell?

In a vehicle with a chassis, while much of the energy would have been transferred to the occupants and may have still been fatal, the car would not have split the way this one seems to have done.

But at what flamin' speed did this occur?

seems more a darwin like solution...
I think youre right any passengers in almost any vehicle would be dead or horrificly (<-sp?) damaged.

you have to feel for family and friends of the two who died in this crash- so young (19 and 20) and so close to christmas.

I think the answer is that regardless of how good the "safety cell" is, there are always situations that will manage to overwhelm it.

An accident like this in the early hours of the morning - may I suggest that alcohol may have been involved?

John

Speed definately the issue and no evidence of braking suggests an alcohol fuelled incident, or dare one suggest street racing where another vehicle departed the scene. You can almost imagine the trajectory of the vehicle failing to make the corner visible in the background.

The destruction of the car, reinforces the fact that if you want to speed, do it on a race track in a vehicle designed or modified for it like almost all race cars.

Diana

"Safety cell" implies safe driving, ie driving to the speed limit. You can't design a mass production car to formula 1 standards of crash. Stupidity will always find a way to overcome safety.

Originally Posted by bee utey

"Safety cell" implies safe driving, ie driving to the speed limit. You can't design a mass production car to formula 1 standards of crash. Stupidity will always find a way to overcome safety.

But dare I say it (again) - speed limiters should be fitted to ALL new vehicles. What's the point of designing a family car capable of 200km/h, but only able to tolerate a crash at 100km/h?

Originally Posted by solmanic

But dare I say it (again) - speed limiters should be fitted to ALL new vehicles. What's the point of designing a family car capable of 200km/h, but only able to tolerate a crash at 100km/h?

And for every factory fitted speed limiting device there will be 10 items for sale to counteract it. Power chips, internet instructions etc etc. Just look at 50cc scooters that are car licence only - they are supposed to be speed limited to 55km/h but you can take many to a bike shop and pay to have the governor removed so they can do 80. And really not much good limiting new vehicles when many older vehicles (not landrover series) can do 200km/h as well. Good solution in theory but try convincing every car owner to submit their vehicle for fitment of a speed limiter - it will never happen. Trucks that are supposedly fitted with 100km/h limiters routinely do 130 on the highway too.

Originally Posted by bee utey

Stupidity will always find a way to overcome safety.

So so true sadly! See above.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Today's ABC Online is showing an image of a Holden Commodore which hit a palm tree at a high rate of knots.

So, would that be a dunny-door I am looking at?

The crash was on riverside drive, between the river and the perth CBD. The speed limit is 60km/h. No matter how safe a car is, the occupants wouldn't survive a crash at whatever speed that car was doing.

The NCAP however uses a select number of (largely unrealistic) tests. Real-world stats from the UK (and elsewhere) show that there is a strong correlation between the mass of the car and safety for most crashes - irrespective of the star rating.

Originally Posted by solmanic

But dare I say it (again) - speed limiters should be fitted to ALL new vehicles. What's the point of designing a family car capable of 200km/h, but only able to tolerate a crash at 100km/h?

Very few people would survive a crash at 100 km/h. What about a head-on where both vehicles are travelling 100 km/h.

AFAIK the maximum speed limit in AU is 130. Most accidents occur at slower speeds.

I can see the enefit in speed limiters, but I doubt they would save more than 1-2 lives per year.