<VV> Was "Corvair mentioned in another GM timeline" now "CrashWorthiness"

[Ron]

So the solution is to ban all vehicles larger than a Smart.  Simple.
RonH

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <RoboMan91324 at aol.com>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>; <hyarnell1 at earthlink.net>
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 3:36 PM
Subject: <VV> Was "Corvair mentioned in another GM timeline" now 
"CrashWorthiness"


> Harry,
>
> You are probably referring to the tests the government conducted in 2008
> where the Smart passed quite well.  Like any car built or allowed to be 
> sold
> in the USA, the Smart must meet or exceed crash test parameters set by the
> government.  However, the tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for
> Highway Safety (IIHS) are often more difficult and some consider them to 
> be more
> reflective of reality.  Earlier this year, the IIHS conducted tests that 
> do
> not leave the Smart in such good light.
>
> Among other tests, a test they conducted was between a Smart and a 
> Mercedes
> C Class in a head-on collision at 40 MPH.  The C Class is not one of
> Mercedes' larger vehicles.  The Smart literally went airborne.  Here is a 
> link.
>
> http://www.gearlog.com/2009/04/smart_fortwo_goes_airborne_in.php
>
> Lets say the government tests assume that the vehicle hits an immovable
> object like a bridge abutment.  Of course, this is severe because the 
> abutment
> has no crush zones and will not absorb a lot of energy.  The Smart must
> dissipate almost all of its own kinetic energy when it hits the abutment. 
> If
> the Smart has a head-on collision with another Smart traveling at the same
> speed, the net effect is much the same as one car hitting an abutment. 
> Each
> Smart dissipates the equivalent of its own energy.  I agree that the Smart 
> is
> very well designed for safety in a world where all cars are of similar 
> size.
> The problem comes when the Smart has a head-on collision with a larger car
> and obviously, the vast majority of cars out there are larger than the
> Smart.  This is oversimplified but since the larger car has more kinetic 
> energy
> than the Smart at a given speed, the Smart will experience a much more
> severe deceleration and in fact is likely to be accelerated in the 
> opposite
> direction while the larger car decelerates less and will likely maintain 
> some
> lower level of speed in the original direction.  The G-forces experienced 
> by
> the passengers in the Smart will be much worse than those suffered by the
> passengers in the larger car.
>
> The Smart is fairly good when it comes to tests against cars of similar
> size and stationary objects but does not do so well against larger cars 
> moving
> towards it.  This is basic Physics.
>
> Doc
> 1960 Vette; 1961 Rampside; 1962 Rampside; 1964 Spyder coupe; 1965
> Greenbrier; 1966 Corsa Turbo Coupe; 1967 Nova SS; 1968 Camaro ragtop
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> In a message dated 6/2/2009 7:31:03 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
> virtualvairs-request at corvair.org writes:
>
>> Message: 4
>> Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 19:47:02 -0400
>> From: "Harry  Yarnell" <hyarnell1 at earthlink.net>
>> Subject: Re: <VV> Corvair mentioned in another GM timeline
>> To: "shortle" <shortle556 at earthlink.net>, <ScottyGrover at aol.com>,
>>     <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
>> Message-ID: <5F7AE717F22A472E94C6CDBAE123CBD3 at HEY>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>>     reply-type=original
>>
>> Do some research on the crashworthyness of the Smart. I think you'll be
>> surprised.
>>
>> Harry Yarnell
>> Perryman garage and orphanage
>> Perryman, MD
>> hyarnell1 at earthlink.net
>
>
> **************
> Shop Inspiron, Studio and XPS Laptops
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