h a l f b a k e r yMagical moments of mediocrity.
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First to say, we are all OK, with only bruises.
This Sunday, on the winding road up to our mountain vacation
resort for Rosh-Hashanah, an hour before the holiday began, at
one of the bends, a young driver coming headlong at us in our
lane
lost control and smashed into our car demolishing
it. I had seen
it
coming, warned my family, swiveled the car out of his way so
that it changed into a side collision... and Bang! The airbags
worked
but the seat-belts worked first.
Next thing we were all in the hospital hardly walking and
hardly
talking. We cannot lie down or sit down without help, and
cannot
get up. (By now, five days later its much better). The heavy
bruises are all from seat-belts: On the shoulders, neck, across
the
left breast and chest, and on the two sides of the waist.
So here's the idea:
New active seat-belt: The actual seat-belt is kept away from
the
body by a series of thin plastic elastic "legs" which serve also as
crash detectors. In case of a crash, a wide "bandage" is opened
which covers the face (with see-through, and breathable mesh
material) the forehead, and most of the body, spreading the
stopping energy to a much broader and hence much less
bruising
experience.
Just a note: While at the hospital we saw much worse cases,
one
the family of a man who got a heart attack while their car was
being stoned. Ironically, the mostly Arab staff - doctors,
nurses,
assistants and clerks where all extremely helpful and
empathic, to this family as well.
Inflating Seat Belts
http://www.consumer...-children/index.htm Wider energy distribution. [RayfordSteele, Sep 17 2015]
(???) The crash
http://imgur.com/share/i/yMYCSM6 My car is on the left spun almost completely around [pashute, Sep 18 2015]
the aftermath (photobucket, I hope you don't need a password for it)
http://s933.photobu...psbckbjgxj.jpg.html My car is on the left spun almost completely around. Interestingly I now read that the Red Magen David (Red Star of David) ambulances are now being forced to leave the Red Cross and Red Crescent, because using the star of David is against the Geneva convention... [pashute, Sep 20 2015]
Inflatable Seatbelt
http://www.autocar....inflatable-seatbelt Ford have developed a seat belt that might solve this problem [oneoffdave, Sep 21 2015]
[link]
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That sounds scary - glad you're OK |
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//The actual seat-belt is kept away from the body
by
a series of thin plastic elastic "legs" which serve
also
as crash detectors.// |
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There's a problem there. Seatbelt tensioners and
airbags all work because sensors in the front of the
car (and possibly elsewhere) detect the impact
while
the car body is crumpling, and before the main
force
has reached the occupants. Sensors on the
seatbelt
would react too late. |
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Very glad, though, to hear that you're all OK,
bruising aside. |
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Could there not be airbag/seat belts? - meaning that the
seat belts themselves would contain airbags that blow out
to convert them into extreme padded versions on severe
impacts? |
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xenzag, baked. Ford has seatbelts which inflate upon crash
detection. |
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Extremely effective 5-point FIA harnesses can be purchased for under USD $200. The technology is mature, well-proven, and needs no electronics, sensors, airbags or cushions. |
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It is entirely possible to descend a ten metre high 45-degree bank at 80kph and stop abruptly due to an inconvenient tree, then walk away with nothing more than a small cut on the left knee, bruised fingers, and a sore shoulder. Mind you, the driver broke his collarbone. |
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They take just a little longer to put on and take off than the pathetic belts that cars get as standard, and you get quicker with practice. You won't hit your head, or get ejected from the vehicle if it rolls. |
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The original equipment airbags have been removed from all our vehicles. |
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//Seat-belt energy spread// That would be a sort of
nylon-flavoured Nutella, then? |
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Polypropylene, actually ... |
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Oh, and welcome back, [8th]. I'm afraid I lost your
chaise longue in a bet with [bigs], but I knew you
wouldn't mind. |
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drat! we were in a Ford!! Ford Focus... |
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Here's the aftermath... (link) |
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wow, that would have been lethal before the early 90s. |
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Why anyone would put a tree in the middle of a high-banked
curve is beyond me. |
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//They take just a little longer to put on and take off than
the pathetic belts that cars get as standard//. You also
need
a helmet and neck guard to keep your brain from
continuing forward while your body stops, which is more
trouble than most people are willing to go to. 3 point belts
are standard because they're the safest thing for passenger
cars. |
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how/where can i post the image so there's no need for a
password? |
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That's going to need some serious paintwork to sort
out. |
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Also, why don't the Red Magen David ambulances just
use a regular red cross? |
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Just want to say, having been the victim of a recent hit and
run myself, I feel your pain, and am so glad you are okay. We
been together a long time, my friend. |
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// You also need a helmet and neck guard to keep your brain from continuing forward while your body stops, // |
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// which is more trouble than most people are willing to go to // |
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//. 3 point belts are standard because they're the safest thing for passenger cars. // |
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No, they're not. They're cheap, and require little or no mental effort to use (originally developed for the U.S. market). Like those horrible "round the door" electrically driven belts that can't be properly tightened ... |
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The main problem with the 5-point harnesses serms to be that some women find them uncomfortable. This is clearly due to a major design flaw. In fact, women are the final and clinching proof of the incorrectness of the "intelligent design" hypothesis. |
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//The original equipment airbags have been removed from all our vehicles.//
Twisted, ingenious experiments, no doubt. |
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//No, they're not. They're cheap, and require little or
no mental effort to use (originally developed for the
U.S. market).// That's part of being safe. A 5 point
harness offers no safety at all if nobody wears it, or
wears it improperly. |
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A 5 point harness is only going to have an advantage
over a 3 point
belt if the wearer has a helmet and neck protector. |
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3 point belts already have pretensioners and force
limiters to minimize injury. Quite a lot of thought
has gone into it. |
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// if nobody wears it, or wears it improperly. // |
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Another huge benefit; removes low-grade DNA from the gene pool. |
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// if the wearer has a helmet and neck protector. // |
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The wearer can't slide under a 5-point harness, unlike a 3 point. And for the driver, the head comes nowhere near the steering wheel during a front impact. Agreed, in a side impact a helmet provides vital protection against contact with the B-pillar, or even worse the navigator's head, which is typically of an even more dense and unyielding character than stamped vanadium steel section. |
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So what's it like being a navigator, [8th]? |
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Co-drivers at least get a bit of the credit. Navigators have about the same status as mud-boards, altho most drivers won't leave a mudboard on the verge in a rainstorm and just drive away. |
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You really should buy your driver a satnav, you know. |
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Oh, we did. One of the first-generation ones, that just give latitude and longtitude on a dot-matrix LCD display. |
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Now, he can find out his location at any time with nothing more than a basic endoscope. And quite a lot of colonic discomfort. Which is entirely satisfactory. |
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There is never any point in knowing where you are.
I, for instance, always know exactly where I am,
because it's where I am. |
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What counts is knowing where everything else is. |
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Fondly remembering Maxwell Buchanan. |
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Wouldn't the seat belt just need the correct stetch under
impact forces? The belt absorbs energy to reduce bruising
while still giving holding needed. |
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