Should you go limp in car accident?

[madoka]

Today a few miles from my home, a drunk driver went the wrong way on the freeway and killed six people. She survived.

Many people commenting on the crash say that she survived because as a drunk, she was limp in the collision.

So if you know that you're going to be in an accident, should you go limp or tense up to protect your organs?

 

[tortillasoup]

sounds like going limp is the way to go, assuming you can actually do it.

 

[88keys]

Drunk drivers have a habit of surviving crashes.

 

[DaTT]

I have zero tolerance for drunk drivers. She should be executed for her crimes.

 

[zinfamous]

Drunk Dirvers tend to survive crashes because:

--they know the crash is happening at least a few seconds before their victims do, and yes, can "protect themselves"
--drunk or not, anyone responsible for the accident is usually in the middle of an evasive maneuver, to steer the greatest amount of damage away from themselves--this is why passengers die more often than the drivers in the same car.

But accidents on freeways tend to happen in less than 1 to 3 or so seconds time. This isn't going to allow you an opportunity to prepare for anything. And, especially if you have no idea someone is about to plow into your rear or cut across three lanes and send the lead car spinning into your side, you will never see it coming.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Sounds like the ideal thing to do is get drunk before you crash.

 

[velillen]

Going limp will help. Not total dead fish limp but the key is to not be tensed up and preventing your body from being able to abosrb some of the impact.

Same sort of thing applies in skiing. Fall once while tensed up and youll be sore for days. Fall and let yourself be a bit limp and it takes away some of the snoreness

 

[Bird222]

But how in the hell are you going to do this? When you see a car coming you are going to naturally tense up.

 

[UglyCasanova]

I've been in a wreck, and your mind doesn't have time to think and react. You tense up for that split second and then BAM. Followed by screaming, confusion, and pain. Fun stuff.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

"Relax Body!"

 

[KillerCharlie]

The forces on your body in a collision are much greater than anything you can counteract with your muscles.

 

[dmcowen674]

Today a few miles from my home, a drunk driver went the wrong way on the freeway and killed six people. She survived.

Many people commenting on the crash say that she survived because as a drunk, she was limp in the collision.

So if you know that you're going to be in an accident, should you go limp or tense up to protect your organs?

This made National news

21 and dumb

2-9-2014

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/0...auses-accident-that-kills-6-on-socal-freeway/

Police say wrong-way driver causes accident that kills 6 on SoCal freeway



A wrong-way driver on a Southern California freeway was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after causing a pre-dawn crash with multiple vehicles Sunday that left six people dead, the California Highway Patrol said.


Police arrested the 21-year-old female driver on suspicion of felony driving under the influence and felony manslaughter in connection with the 4:40 a.m. accident on the westbound Pomona freeway, or State Route 60, in Diamond Bar

The female driver was in serious condition at a Los Angeles County hospital with a broken femur and a ruptured bladder, Jimenez said.
Authorities were seeking blood tests.


Investigators "believe from what they found in the vehicle that alcohol was involved," Los Angeles County Coroner's Lt. Fred Corral told the newspaper.
Jimenez said the woman was traveling east in a red Chevy Camaro when it collided head-on with a red Ford Explorer.

The sequence of events involving the other vehicles was not immediately clear. At least two people were ejected from their vehicles

 

[LTC8K6]

I doubt there is any actual evidence that going limp helps, or any evidence that drunk drivers are limp at impact.

 

[LTC8K6]

Why all the ejections? No belts?

 

[madoka]

But how in the hell are you going to do this? When you see a car coming you are going to naturally tense up.

There have been times when I can see a high probability of an accident happening (e.g. seeing a car in the rearview mirror locking up its brakes before it rear ends me). In the first split second, I tense up, but then I immediately start wondering whether I should get limp or not. So I think it is possible.

 

[mikegg]

This is really sad. Really really sad. This girl basically murdered 6 completely innocent people...

 

[madoka]

This is really sad. Really really sad. This girl basically murdered 6 completely innocent people...

Police estimate she was doing 100 MPH going the wrong way when she crashed.

I'll bet money when everything is said and done, she will spend approximately one year in prison for each person she killed. Maybe less.

 

[brainhulk]

Wouldn't going limp just allow your neck to snap?

I thought I watched a youtube video where some dude actually sits in crash test cars for a living. He says he tightens up as hard as he can. He said thats why you ger males have a higher chance of surviving because they have the muscle strength to do so. Granted these were just 30-50 mph collisions iirc. Baaah I forgot where I watched the video

Also at the race track, they tell us to let go of the steering wheel in an eminent crash.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Drunk Dirvers tend to survive crashes because:

--they know the crash is happening at least a few seconds before their victims do, and yes, can "protect themselves"
--drunk or not, anyone responsible for the accident is usually in the middle of an evasive maneuver, to steer the greatest amount of damage away from themselves--this is why passengers die more often than the drivers in the same car.

But accidents on freeways tend to happen in less than 1 to 3 or so seconds time. This isn't going to allow you an opportunity to prepare for anything. And, especially if you have no idea someone is about to plow into your rear or cut across three lanes and send the lead car spinning into your side, you will never see it coming.

Nothing more retarded than this has ever been posted in the history of mankind.

I award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul.

 

[dud]

But how in the hell are you going to do this? When you see a car coming you are going to naturally tense up.

Agreed. The sober people would automatically tense up while the intoxicated person might not be cognizant enough to do so. This may/may not explain her survival in this case. Regardless ... people are dea and a young woman's life is shattered. Just sad and tragic.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

I have zero tolerance for drunk drivers. She should be executed for her crimes.

Please, this.

 

[z1ggy]

Why all the ejections? No belts?

Probably rear seat passengers not having belts on. Most people I feel get the impression if they are in the back, they don't need a belt. Then.. They go flying through the windshield..

What I also don't get is how in some accidents, the victims are left fairly in tact (my aunt and cousin died in one years ago.. open casket funeral) and then others, they get FUBAR'ed.

 

[MarkXIX]

Why all the ejections? No belts?

Because "I know this guy that died because he wore his seatbelt..." is a very real and very ritarded (spelled appropriately for the situation) common belief.

 

[Brian Stirling]

Race drivers are taught to remove there hands from the steering wheel before impact otherwise they're likely to break there thumbs, wrists and/or lower arm bones.

If you're using the seat belt properly and have an airbag as most cars have it's probably best to just relax. That's not likely to happen unless you're either drowsy/sleeping or otherwise impaired as in drunk.

It would also be interesting to know what types of cars they were driving as the advantage in a head-on goes to the heavier car/vehicle.


Brian

 

[Blackjack200]

Probably rear seat passengers not having belts on. Most people I feel get the impression if they are in the back, they don't need a belt. Then.. They go flying through the windshield..

Because "I know this guy that died because he wore his seatbelt..." is a very real and very ritarded (spelled appropriately for the situation) common belief.

I don't know if there are statistics on this, but I swear I've heard that ejection from the vehicle is the biggest killer in car accidents.

My co-worker lost her cousin to a car accident 6 months ago. Another car had spun out and was stuck in the roadway, but on the other side of a hill, so her cousin didn't see it until the last second, and tried to swerve out of the way. He caught the rear quarter at about 50 MPH. If he was wearing his seatbelt, I doubt he would have even been seriously injured. But he was ejected from the car and killed.