1. Sackninja

    Sackninja Member

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    Could a side on car crash flip a car?

    Discussion in 'Research' started by Sackninja, Oct 16, 2012.

    I just recently decided to enter nanowrimo :eek: and there will be a side on car crash in said novel.
    It will involve a drunk driver would break the light at a junction at around 55miles an hour. He would slam into the main characters car side and the wife and daughter would be killed while the mc would only suffer for broken collar bone and maybe some broken ribs.

    The wife and daughter would be on the side hit. I need to know if this would flip the car. Oh and the car the mc is in would be going around the same speed. Thank you very much in advance.:D
     
  2. shadowwalker

    shadowwalker Contributor Contributor

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    Yes. Googled "car accidents T-bone rollover" and first two hits were YouTube vids of just such an accident.
     
  3. Sackninja

    Sackninja Member

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    Wow. Thanks. I guess I should of checked YouTube and figured out what it was called before running over here.

    Anyway thank you very much for the info. Would the wounds described be reasonably?
     
  4. psychotick

    psychotick Contributor Contributor

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    Hi,

    Fifty five miles an hour into the side of a car - that could well kill people, especially those on the side taking the impact where the worst of the violence would occur. The guy on the far side gets to swing around in his seatbelt while the two closer to the impact swing directly into the side wall of the car and maybe the bumper of the other car. Mitigating factors would include things like whether they were wearing seat belts, side air bags and side intrusion protection.

    Cheers, Greg.
     
  5. captain kate

    captain kate Senior Member

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    It can flip, but 95% of the time it'll stay on all four wheels. I've dealt with many a t-bone accident, and can count on my fingers how many have flipped in my area. Not to say it won't, but it has to be hit just right. That's just my .02 from investigating crime scene/accident scenes. Can't speak for anyone else. :)
     
  6. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    yes... i was in a car that was turned on its side by a driver hitting us side-on at an intersection...

    had he been going faster, we could certainly have been killed...
     
  7. Sackninja

    Sackninja Member

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    Thank you all very much. I have a pretty good idea what to write now. Now I just need to get as far as the car crash in my nanowrimo.
     
  8. psychotick

    psychotick Contributor Contributor

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    Hi,

    If you want to increase the chances of the car flipping, have the car hitting the side of the car breaking heavily. This will lower the nose a little for the better angle. And then for the hit car, have it turning in the direction of the oncoming car. If you turn right for example, the right side of the car lifts up a little, so if the oncoming car hits it from the right side, again the angle will be better. But the most important factor is probably to have something to stop the tires sliding, say a curb which catches the tires as the car slides out from the impact.

    Cheers, Greg.
     
  9. captain kate

    captain kate Senior Member

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    glad you made it, Mom! The world would've suffered a big loss. :)
     
  10. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    thanks, cap!... that was sweet of you... brightened up a gloomy morning...

    as it was, the worst injury amongst the 4 people in the car was to me, thanks to my ever-so-gallant and car husband stepping on me to get himself out through a window, fearing the gas tank would blow... fortunately, despite my terror thinking it might, a passerby helped me out, while hubby stood off a safe distance, just in case... not the lowest point in that second unhappy marriage, but definitely close... :rolleyes:
     
  11. northernpsyche

    northernpsyche New Member

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    I think if you want your car to flip then it can. Poetic licence!
     
  12. Snyder80

    Snyder80 Member

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    Typically, unless it's an SUV/Jeep being hit by a car I would said no. My best evidence is of a police dash cam where a patrol car smashes in to a suspect vehicle as he's opening the drivers side door to again open fire on them. They hit the car at approximately 75 mph and the car doesn't even come off the ground, the police cars front end actually comes up.
     
  13. maidahl

    maidahl Banned

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    Make it 80mph, so the intoxicated idiot has no chance of garnering sympathy. So it's more heartbreaker and severely major. Headlights aren't on. It's night. Drunken loon hits you outta nowhere and runs off. You later gun him down and marry the princess.

    God. I should write this book. My preciousssssss

    Edit: You're bionic, man. You survive through a miracle of healing and faith, as well as modern tech and the imaginnovations of the current genius of this generation.
     
  14. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    If the center of mass of an object moves outside of the are in contact with the ground, it will tip over. If the points of contact slide in such a way as to prevent tipping, it will not tip/roll.

    What does that mean for a side impact collision? If the colliding force is higher than the center of mass of the object struck, it favors tipping. Also, if the center of mass of the struck object is higher, it is easier to reach the tipping point.

    So if the vehicle being struck has a higher center of mass, like an SUV, or a station wagon with heavy luggage strapped to the top, it is easier to roll it. And if the vehicle that strikes it hits high, that also favors rolling the struck vehicle.

    So a pickup truck with high springs T-bones an SUV, you have a much higher likelihood of causing a rollover than if a taxi T-bones a Rolls-Royce with a low, heavy chassis. Also, if the vehicle coming from the side is airborne, it strikes higher and increases the likelihood of a rollover.
     
  15. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    the car i was in that ended up on its side was a medium-sized rental and was hit by another 'ordinary' car, not a truck and not an SUV...
     
  16. Thumpalumpacus

    Thumpalumpacus Alive in the Superunknown

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    Having worked as a firefighter in the Air Force for my enlistment, and having responded to accidents somewhat regularly, a T-bone resulting in a flip would strike me as unusual, but not impossible.

    I wonder if the flipped car is vital to the story? Because the wife and child can be killed in a T-bone without the car flipping, too.
     
  17. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    If I seemed to be saying a vehicle could not be flipped unless it were top heavy, or if struck high up, that was not my intent.

    I was trying to give some idea of the physics involved, without getting too technical. For anyone who's interested, the forces involved are a combination of linear and angular momentum, with the friction and angle of the road surface, and even wind, contributing as well.

    From a non-technical perspective, a top-heavy vehicle with a high impact point is more likely to roll, but it can still happen with any pair of vehicles.



    (speaking of accidents, the thread was not closed deliberately :))
     
  18. James Berkley

    James Berkley Banned

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    Look up how they did the crash for Casino Royal. they could not get a impressive crash by itself so they put an air cannon to flip the Aston Martin. they beat the old record of five flips with seven. a car might end upside down, but its not going to go crazy flipping like you see in Hollywood.
     
  19. maidahl

    maidahl Banned

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    I thought I made the thread get closed. Phew. It was closed right after my post.

    *beats you over the head with it*

    Thump's perspective could be fascinating if we could get it out of him. Not just with vernacular, but in the details, and his literal view, and his bias. Who's to blame? What does it feel like, look like, smell like? What do you remember so I know what you forget? What are you left with after the accident when you go home?

    Thump's casual mention of wife/child is heartbreaking. Oooh use that!
     
  20. Thumpalumpacus

    Thumpalumpacus Alive in the Superunknown

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    Of the rollovers I did work, one was caused by leaving the roadway into a ravine, one was an overcorrection subsequent to a sleepy loss-of-control, and the last was a sideswipe resulting in oblique contact with the curb at speed. None resulted n fatalities, because the Air Force requires its member to belt up at all times in all vehicles (aside from buses, trains, and the like). The last was the worst. The lady was trapped in her car, conscious, with a fractured skull. She was scared shitless and not in her right mind, understandably, and it took about five or six minutes to open the car up and stabilize her for extrication, and the whole time she alternated between wailing and miserable sobbing.

    The following is the first fatal wreck I worked (sent to a parent whose child didn't like buckling up):

    I'm not sure what you mean by my "bias" in regard to this, Mai, except to say that while a straight T-bone can result in a rollover, not only my own, limited xperiences, but what I've seen and heard in training, from other firefighters, and on official debriefs indicates that while they can occur, the conditions Cogito points out -- high center of gravity, high impact point, high speed -- are almost always involved.
     

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