🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <36b84081.934766@news.pipeline.com>,
  whorning@pipeline.com wrote:
> Example: traffic ahead is stopped suddenly, the ditch or even a
> telephone pole is a better object to hit than swinging to the left,
> possibly into oncoming traffic. If you are going 40 in a 40 zone, then
> the impact of a head-on could be 80 mph combined. But if you hit the
> pole at 40, it is a very survivable accident, provided you are wearing
> a seat belt.

There's an incorrect assumption here, which I'm sure all the physicists
reading this group have spotted.

A head-on collision where both cars are moving at 40 mph has the same effect
(on the occupants of the cars) as hitting a parked car at 80 mph.  However,
it does *not* have the same effect as hitting an immovable object at 80 mph. 
It has the same effect as hitting an immovable object at 40 mph.

A large tree, rooted firmly in the earth, is effectively an immovable object.
So if you have your choice of hitting a tree or hitting an oncoming car, it
makes no difference as far as your own survival is concerned.

Of course, the person in the other car probably has a definite opinion about
what you should do.

-Mark-

-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/       Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own