Saw a bad crash on the M40 today

[WinstonWolf]

Gruber said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Well what a nice way of welcoming a new member, one that's apparently a good samaritan as well.

My thoughts entirely. This place gets worse,

Well done Durk52 for stopping to help.

mmm, stop being a dick.

[swisstoni]

I often wonder how people conjure up crashes on motorways when all cars are going on the same direction and this must be one of the main causes.

[anonymous-user]

swisstoni said:

I often wonder how people conjure up crashes on motorways when all cars are going on the same direction and this must be one of the main causes.

If you mean "lack of awareness" and "inattention" then i agree with you!

[Super Slo Mo]

Max_Torque said:

swisstoni said:

I often wonder how people conjure up crashes on motorways when all cars are going on the same direction and this must be one of the main causes.

If you mean "lack of awareness" and "inattention" then i agree with you!

And at more or less the same speed in general, with closing speeds usually significantly less than in inner-city areas.

[Dr Doofenshmirtz]

swisstoni said:

I often wonder how people conjure up crashes on motorways when all cars are going on the same direction and this must be one of the main causes.

General lack of concentration & awareness. Changing lanes without doing a quick over the shoulder lifesaver as in this case etc.
To compound the issue, most people drive with just one hand on the wheel, when something bad happens they can't properly control the car and lose control.

[StottyZr]

Max_Torque said:

lufbramatt said:

Max_Torque said:

lufbramatt said:

It is scary how unstable little all cars like that are at motorway speeds.

EFA. Size has nothing to do with it.

Long wheelbase saloons and estate type cars are definitely more stable than "square" hatchbacks. Obviously it's possible to lose control in any car given the right circumstances.

If you do the maths, you'll see that the vehicles wheelbase only affects how much handwheel angle is required to meet a certain turn radius, whereas "stability" is much more a function of chassis tuning, suspension kinematics and aero characteristic (especially lift vs yaw profile - early audi tt anyone? ;-)

Why are small cars generally less stable than saloons? Are thire chassis simply just not tuned as finely or are you being awkward and padantic?

[anonymous-user]

StottyZr said:

Max_Torque said:

lufbramatt said:

Max_Torque said:

lufbramatt said:

It is scary how unstable little all cars like that are at motorway speeds.

EFA. Size has nothing to do with it.

Long wheelbase saloons and estate type cars are definitely more stable than "square" hatchbacks. Obviously it's possible to lose control in any car given the right circumstances.

If you do the maths, you'll see that the vehicles wheelbase only affects how much handwheel angle is required to meet a certain turn radius, whereas "stability" is much more a function of chassis tuning, suspension kinematics and aero characteristic (especially lift vs yaw profile - early audi tt anyone? ;-)

Why are small cars generally less stable than saloons? Are thire chassis simply just not tuned as finely or are you being awkward and padantic?

Generally, it's because they are fwd and have a poor mass distribution! I.e. 70% of the mass up front means the suspension has a very very biased spring / damper rate and roll stiffness. Add in the need to be "cheap" and you used to get trailing arm rear suspension with a massive level of jacking and zero camber gain (in fact roll angle = camber angle!). So to make them feel even remotely agile, the manufacturers wind up the rear roll stiffness, fit powerful power steering (so you can turn the handwheel at parking speeds).

Compare that to a larger saloon, much more likely to be front engined rwd, have much better mass distribution, have better rear suspension kinematics etc. And of course, these larger more expensive platforms got the DSC/ESC systems first.....


So the reason say a 106 is thought of unstable is not primarily because it is small. (which was my point!)


Of course, none of that actually matters, it is the driver that makes the largest difference. Someone who crashes a Ka would almost certainly crash the larger saloon too!

[S0 What]

mmm-five said:

The reason I posted the comment, was because I genuinely thought he was claiming there were 7 occupants in Ford Ka, and would have meant the Ka was well overloaded.

If I've read it incorrectly due to the poster's bad grammar, then it's hardly my fault!

Nope, i'm going with being a dick as well

[RDMcG]

Durk52 said:

I like that the main issue was about my grammar and not the fact that there was a major accident with casualties.

I'm writing this message on the phone, my main aim was to inform the OP that the "occupants" we're ok not to document a grammatically correct narration of my experiences.

The main issue is that you had the decency and skill to make a bad situation better. I am sure your actions were much appreciated.