🚀 go-pugleaf

schnitzi@cs.ucf.edu (Mark Schnitzius) writes:
>|> Suppose you are stopped in your car at a stop light.  In
>|> your rearview you see an approaching car that is moving
>|> too fast to stop -- it is going to plow into you.  You
>|> have just time enough to do one of two things -- apply
>|> the brake, or apply the clutch.  From a personal survival
>|> standpoint, which choice would be in your best interest?

Some thoughts:

1) You're already in neutral so the clutch doesn't do anything significant.

2) If the impact were instantaneous, the brakes would not help. In
fact they would not slow the car much within the first 1/10 sec. So
one should not expect them to reduce the initial impact even in realistic
cases.

3) Applying the brakes will push you hard forward after the impact, and
the steering wheel is not as soft as your seat.

4) If there is cross traffic to worry about the brakes are important.

5) Perhaps the most dangerous possibility is that your seat back will
collapse, allowing your neck to collide with the hard rear seat panel
which is sometimes being pushed toward you by the other guy's bumper.
(This is a common cause of paralysis). Pushing the brakes increases
the force against the seat back a little.

6) As you accelerate backwards (please no flames) you will be off
the brakes anyway. So the question may be moot.

7) If you have time to do that, you have time to lay across the front seat.

Dave Ring
dwr2560@zeus.tamu.edu