A120 Essex - Accident today

[schmalex]

Good grief! She was one very lucky lady to escape with her life from that one

[Al U]

That is quite incredible, a testament to the crash worthiness of the golf if ever I've seen one.

[V40TC]

Al U said:

That is quite incredible, a testament to the crash worthiness of the golf if ever I've seen one.

More a testament to Luck
not a whole lot left of the Golf
it just got squashed into the only space available
thank goodness she was not in a car any taller

[TooMany2cvs]

Al U said:

That is quite incredible, a testament to the crash worthiness of the golf if ever I've seen one.

Hardly. The Golf's structure doesn't appear to have taken much crash energy apart from above the scuttle, and it doesn't appear to have withstood that very well...

It's a testament to sheer bloody good luck, and not a lot else.

[Al U]

TooMany2cvs said:

Hardly. The Golf's structure doesn't appear to have taken much crash energy apart from above the scuttle, and it doesn't appear to have withstood that very well...

It's a testament to sheer bloody good luck, and not a lot else.

The first point of contact in that situation is going to be the bonnet which will pull the front of the car down and then the roof line, so I don't know where else you expect the crash energy to have gone? The fact that she is alive is both a mixture of luck and the fact she was in a car with good crash performance. Also the fire brigade have clearly been at the car so it's hard to say how well the roof structure withstood anything.

OT - 2610 posts in 14 months? Maybe your username should of been "TooMuch2Say"

Edited by Al U on Tuesday 9th December 22:05

[Cliftonite]

I have noticed over the years that drivers of skip lorries are not amongst the best.

[rambo19]

Cliftonite said:

I have noticed over the years that drivers of skip lorries are not amongst the best.

+1

[Slow]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

He hasn't killed anyone or even severely hurt, they said possible drink/drug, if he was sober, I can't see him being off the road long?

[jamieduff1981]

Al U said:

TooMany2cvs said:

Hardly. The Golf's structure doesn't appear to have taken much crash energy apart from above the scuttle, and it doesn't appear to have withstood that very well...

It's a testament to sheer bloody good luck, and not a lot else.

The first point of contact in that situation is going to be the bonnet which will pull the front of the car down and then the roof line, so I don't know where else you expect the crash energy to have gone? The fact that she is alive is both a mixture of luck and the fact she was in a car with good crash performance. Also the fire brigade have clearly been at the car so it's hard to say how well the roof structure withstood anything.

OT - 2610 posts in 14 months? Maybe your username should of been "TooMuch2Say"

Edited by Al U on Tuesday 9th December 22:05

I agree with 2CVs. Whether the Golf was good or bad is irrelevant. Any car sandwiched like that would have been forced into that gap and adopted whatever shape the HGVs dictated. The girl was just lucky.

[Al U]

jamieduff1981 said:

I agree with 2CVs. Whether the Golf was good or bad is irrelevant. Any car sandwiched like that would have been forced into that gap and adopted whatever shape the HGVs dictated. The girl was just lucky.

OK so are you saying that the car she was in was irrelevant, and that she could of been in any other car and still would of survived? The reason she survived is that the gap that the car was forced into was the right size for her to survive? I was just stating my opinion, it's quite an educated one in this instance as well but every one has an opinion.

[jamieduff1981]

Al U said:

jamieduff1981 said:

I agree with 2CVs. Whether the Golf was good or bad is irrelevant. Any car sandwiched like that would have been forced into that gap and adopted whatever shape the HGVs dictated. The girl was just lucky.

OK so are you saying that the car she was in was irrelevant, and that she could of been in any other car and still would of survived? The reason she survived is that the gap that the car was forced into was the right size for her to survive? I was just stating my opinion, it's quite an educated one in this instance as well but every one has an opinion.

Having just checked your garage I can see why you're getting your knickers in a twist protecting Golfs.

Yes, I'm saying the Golf was irrelevant. I actually said "Whether the Golf was good or bad is irrelevant" so I congratulate you on your powers of interpretation.

[Al U]

jamieduff1981 said:

Having just checked your garage I can see why you're getting your knickers in a twist protecting Golfs.

Yes, I'm saying the Golf was irrelevant. I actually said "Whether the Golf was good or bad is irrelevant" so I congratulate you on your powers of interpretation.

My golf isn't the same as the one in the accident, I really couldn't care less which car it is the fact that the woman survived is the positive thing here. OK was just making sure you think the car was irrelevant because the scientific term for your logic is "bks".

[kiseca]

Al U said:

OK so are you saying that the car she was in was irrelevant, and that she could of been in any other car and still would of survived? The reason she survived is that the gap that the car was forced into was the right size for her to survive? I was just stating my opinion, it's quite an educated one in this instance as well but every one has an opinion.

How well educated are you in the performance of cars being squeezed under the back of a lorry?

[Al U]

Rather well. I'm an automotive engineer and have worked on the design of crash structures and crash analysis on a fair amount of different vehicles.

[TooMany2cvs]

Al U said:

Rather well. I'm an automotive engineer and have worked on the design of crash structures and crash analysis on a fair amount of different vehicles.

So perhaps you'd care to explain exactly how the crashworthiness helped here?

Because, afaict, you're absolutely bob-on. The front end just went underneath and did bugger all, then the top got neatly scythed off. Not a lot of help from the structure there at all. If she hadn't ducked, her head and shoulders would have got similarly scythed off.

[Nezquick]

That Golf's been lowered far more than any other Golf i've ever seen.....surprisingly.

[Al U]

TooMany2cvs said:

So perhaps you'd care to explain exactly how the crashworthiness helped here?

Because, afaict, you're absolutely bob-on. The front end just went underneath and did bugger all, then the top got neatly scythed off. Not a lot of help from the structure there at all. If she hadn't ducked, her head and shoulders would have got similarly scythed off.

I don't disagree when you say that is partly luck, but the fact that the vehicle structure has held up well (particularly the fact that there is hardly any creases in the sill and the bulkhead is still intact given the fact the impact was hard enough to push the car under the lorry like that) is definitely a contributing factor to the fact she is still alive. If for example she was in a 2CV I think the scene would look quite different.

Edited by Al U on Wednesday 10th December 09:33

[McWigglebum4th]

What happened to the sticky down bit at the back of the trailer to stop cars going under?

[kiseca]

Al U said:

Rather well. I'm an automotive engineer and have worked on the design of crash structures and crash analysis on a fair amount of different vehicles.

Excellent. So what design features allowed the Golf to perform better in this particular crash than one of its natural competitors, let's say a Focus?

[TooMany2cvs]

Al U said:

but the fact that the vehicle structure has held up well (particularly the fact that there is hardly any creases in the sill and the bulkhead is still intact given the fact the impact was hard enough to push the car under the lorry like that)

They're intact because the front end received very little energy. It wouldn't surprise me if the front bumper was virtually untouched, apart from where it's wedged between the tyres.