"Brace Yourself"?
Discussion
So, say you were a passenger or driver in a car that was going to crash, how best to brace yourself? Feet against the firewall or tucked back, hands and arms against your chest maybe? Of course, in Oz there is the "Crikey Bar" on the passenger dashboard. Anyway, just wondering. Not long ago I was a passenger in a left hand drive vintage car with no seatbelt or head restraint, so I just held on with my buttocks.
One thing I’ve had mentioned a couple of times by trainers on first aid courses, and a couple of paramedics I know is to always keep your pockets, if wearing a hoody or jacket with them on, empty.
A bunch of keys in a pocket against your stomach makes quite a good meat tenderiser when combined with a crash and a seatbelt.
To add on to that, where possible, try not driving about needing a pee. Apparently damaged bladders have been known as a result of holding it in.
I’d be keeping my arms against the lower part of my ribs, or down either side of my legs to avoid getting punched in my own face by my hands when the airbag goes off. Legs bent if possible, preferably not against any hard object.
Headrest at the right height to prevent whiplash as much as possible.
A bunch of keys in a pocket against your stomach makes quite a good meat tenderiser when combined with a crash and a seatbelt.
To add on to that, where possible, try not driving about needing a pee. Apparently damaged bladders have been known as a result of holding it in.
I’d be keeping my arms against the lower part of my ribs, or down either side of my legs to avoid getting punched in my own face by my hands when the airbag goes off. Legs bent if possible, preferably not against any hard object.
Headrest at the right height to prevent whiplash as much as possible.
Howaboutthis said:
Thanks, not sure I know how to pretension a seat belt? It's certainly not built in to my car.
Tug it hard, and I guess you'd have to lean into it a bit to maintain the tension and gain the benefits. It's not something I would imagine would be very intuitive before a crash though...Lots of cars will automatically pretension the belt milliseconds before the airbag goes so tugging on the belt beforehand might in fact be counterproductive and could end up with broken collarbones if the slack is already removed.
https://youtu.be/6phdJWRi_vw?t=139
howstuffworks said:
The pretensioner mechanism uses an explosive charge to drive a concealed piston when sensors detect the signature abrupt deceleration of an accident. The piston, in turn, rapidly drives the spool around which the fabric strap of a seatbelt is wrapped. That incredibly fast retraction of the belt fabric removes the slack from the belt instantly. This extra seatbelt "pre-" tension, moments prior to the full force of impact, pulls the bodies of the driver and front-seat passenger firmly into their seats. This positions them so as to receive the maximum protection benefit of the front airbags. It also helps prevent the unfortunate phenomenon car crash-ologists call "submarining." That's when the momentum caused by the crash jerks a victim's body under his or her lap belt and sends it careening forward below the dash.
Slowmo of the mechanism in actionhttps://youtu.be/6phdJWRi_vw?t=139
Demelitia said:
One thing I’ve had mentioned a couple of times by trainers on first aid courses, and a couple of paramedics I know is to always keep your pockets, if wearing a hoody or jacket with them on, empty.
A bunch of keys in a pocket against your stomach makes quite a good meat tenderiser when combined with a crash and a seatbelt.
To add on to that, where possible, try not driving about needing a pee. Apparently damaged bladders have been known as a result of holding it in.
I’d be keeping my arms against the lower part of my ribs, or down either side of my legs to avoid getting punched in my own face by my hands when the airbag goes off. Legs bent if possible, preferably not against any hard object.
Headrest at the right height to prevent whiplash as much as possible.
I’ll ditto that. I had a 30mph accident and the button on my shirt under the belt caused a cracked sternum.A bunch of keys in a pocket against your stomach makes quite a good meat tenderiser when combined with a crash and a seatbelt.
To add on to that, where possible, try not driving about needing a pee. Apparently damaged bladders have been known as a result of holding it in.
I’d be keeping my arms against the lower part of my ribs, or down either side of my legs to avoid getting punched in my own face by my hands when the airbag goes off. Legs bent if possible, preferably not against any hard object.
Headrest at the right height to prevent whiplash as much as possible.
My wife had a perfect bruise pattern of the seat belt on her.
Best bet is to grab wheel, and either pull it towards you or push it away so that the driver who should have taken action earlier takes the worst of the impact.
Or if your really good (like me because I do this on average 2 to 3 times a day as a driving instructor) say something first to suggest action may be required, failing that use my brake pedal, and grab said wheel to take avoiding action
I'm fortunate in that people try to kill me several times a day....it's great for adrenaline rushes..... and I'm still here
Or if your really good (like me because I do this on average 2 to 3 times a day as a driving instructor) say something first to suggest action may be required, failing that use my brake pedal, and grab said wheel to take avoiding action
I'm fortunate in that people try to kill me several times a day....it's great for adrenaline rushes..... and I'm still here
I was unfortunate enough to be in this position when a friend lost control of his Mk2 Celica Supra at about 85mph probably about 15 years ago now.
The car in question was stripped out and so there was plenty of exposed pointy bits of metal in the cabin.
It was a deserted country road, and the back end stepped out on a sweeping left hand bend and didn't come back, we slid at about 90 degrees to the direction of travel (so broadside across the road), the front wheels mounted the nearside kerb and we went through a (very quiet) junction sideways and hit a Give Way sign just behind the driver's side front wheel. I'd guess we'd slowed down to somewhere around 60mph at this point. The Give Way sign did what it said on the tin, and gave way, coming clean out the ground. We spun round an unknown number of times and came to a stop facing roughly in the original direction of travel, half on and half off the road. We both walked away without a scratch on us.
My thought process through this was:
"He's brave, kicking the back end out at that sort of speed"
"S**t! That's not deliberate"
"We're going to crash - there's a junction up ahead"
"There's a lot of exposed metal in here"
I pulled my legs up to my chest (i.e. front of thigh to chest, feet on thigh support of seat - by my bum), wrapped my arms round my legs, and pushed my head between my knees.
When the car stopped, I was still in that position ... and still in one piece.
Not endorsing it as a good strategy, but in that particular scenario it did me OK. I walked away perfectly fine, and managed to learn from someone else's mistake, which is always preferable to learning from your own.
The car was totalled - my friend was due to be selling it the next day, and we'd gone out for "1 last drive" that night.
The car in question was stripped out and so there was plenty of exposed pointy bits of metal in the cabin.
It was a deserted country road, and the back end stepped out on a sweeping left hand bend and didn't come back, we slid at about 90 degrees to the direction of travel (so broadside across the road), the front wheels mounted the nearside kerb and we went through a (very quiet) junction sideways and hit a Give Way sign just behind the driver's side front wheel. I'd guess we'd slowed down to somewhere around 60mph at this point. The Give Way sign did what it said on the tin, and gave way, coming clean out the ground. We spun round an unknown number of times and came to a stop facing roughly in the original direction of travel, half on and half off the road. We both walked away without a scratch on us.
My thought process through this was:
"He's brave, kicking the back end out at that sort of speed"
"S**t! That's not deliberate"
"We're going to crash - there's a junction up ahead"
"There's a lot of exposed metal in here"
I pulled my legs up to my chest (i.e. front of thigh to chest, feet on thigh support of seat - by my bum), wrapped my arms round my legs, and pushed my head between my knees.
When the car stopped, I was still in that position ... and still in one piece.
Not endorsing it as a good strategy, but in that particular scenario it did me OK. I walked away perfectly fine, and managed to learn from someone else's mistake, which is always preferable to learning from your own.
The car was totalled - my friend was due to be selling it the next day, and we'd gone out for "1 last drive" that night.
Rotary Potato said:
It was a deserted country road, and the back end stepped out on a sweeping left hand bend and didn't come back, we slid at about 90 degrees to the direction of travel (so broadside across the road), the front wheels mounted the nearside kerb and we went through a (very quiet) junction sideways and hit a Give Way sign just behind the driver's side front wheel. I'd guess we'd slowed down to somewhere around 60mph at this point. The Give Way sign did what it said on the tin, and gave way, coming clean out the ground. We spun round an unknown number of times and came to a stop facing roughly in the original direction of travel, half on and half off the road. We both walked away without a scratch on us.
Rotary Potato said:
I was unfortunate enough to be in this position when a friend lost control of his Mk2 Celica Supra at about 85mph probably about 15 years ago now.
The car in question was stripped out and so there was plenty of exposed pointy bits of metal in the cabin.
It was a deserted country road, and the back end stepped out on a sweeping left hand bend and didn't come back, we slid at about 90 degrees to the direction of travel (so broadside across the road), the front wheels mounted the nearside kerb and we went through a (very quiet) junction sideways and hit a Give Way sign just behind the driver's side front wheel. I'd guess we'd slowed down to somewhere around 60mph at this point. The Give Way sign did what it said on the tin, and gave way, coming clean out the ground. We spun round an unknown number of times and came to a stop facing roughly in the original direction of travel, half on and half off the road. We both walked away without a scratch on us.
My thought process through this was:
"He's brave, kicking the back end out at that sort of speed"
"S**t! That's not deliberate"
"We're going to crash - there's a junction up ahead"
"There's a lot of exposed metal in here"
I pulled my legs up to my chest (i.e. front of thigh to chest, feet on thigh support of seat - by my bum), wrapped my arms round my legs, and pushed my head between my knees.
When the car stopped, I was still in that position ... and still in one piece.
Not endorsing it as a good strategy, but in that particular scenario it did me OK. I walked away perfectly fine, and managed to learn from someone else's mistake, which is always preferable to learning from your own.
The car was totalled - my friend was due to be selling it the next day, and we'd gone out for "1 last drive" that night.
Don’t put your knees to your chest in a car with an airbag. Bad things will happen. The car in question was stripped out and so there was plenty of exposed pointy bits of metal in the cabin.
It was a deserted country road, and the back end stepped out on a sweeping left hand bend and didn't come back, we slid at about 90 degrees to the direction of travel (so broadside across the road), the front wheels mounted the nearside kerb and we went through a (very quiet) junction sideways and hit a Give Way sign just behind the driver's side front wheel. I'd guess we'd slowed down to somewhere around 60mph at this point. The Give Way sign did what it said on the tin, and gave way, coming clean out the ground. We spun round an unknown number of times and came to a stop facing roughly in the original direction of travel, half on and half off the road. We both walked away without a scratch on us.
My thought process through this was:
"He's brave, kicking the back end out at that sort of speed"
"S**t! That's not deliberate"
"We're going to crash - there's a junction up ahead"
"There's a lot of exposed metal in here"
I pulled my legs up to my chest (i.e. front of thigh to chest, feet on thigh support of seat - by my bum), wrapped my arms round my legs, and pushed my head between my knees.
When the car stopped, I was still in that position ... and still in one piece.
Not endorsing it as a good strategy, but in that particular scenario it did me OK. I walked away perfectly fine, and managed to learn from someone else's mistake, which is always preferable to learning from your own.
The car was totalled - my friend was due to be selling it the next day, and we'd gone out for "1 last drive" that night.
Burnzyb said:
I’m pretty sure the rally drivers are taught to cross their arms across their chest.
I’d also not hold my feet against the bulk head, I know someone who was in a pretty horrific crash and badly bruised both his feet from this and iirc broke his leg.
I wouldn’t do that in a car with an airbag. They are designed to work with hands in the correct position on the steering wheel.I’d also not hold my feet against the bulk head, I know someone who was in a pretty horrific crash and badly bruised both his feet from this and iirc broke his leg.
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