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What we really need is a large air bag, at the rear of the car, that inflates right before an impact. With modern technology, it's easy enough to sense an approaching object, its approximate size, and relative speed. If something big is still moving too fast when it's a couple feet (or whatever distance is designed for) away, the bag would deploy. It might not be able to totally eliminate "body" damage (to both the car and the people inside), but it could potentially reduce bent metal and injury significantly.

 

If anyone patents/produces/markets anything based on the above concept, I expect royalties :). Actually, I'd be surprised if something like that isn't already on someone's "drawing board" (CAD system), or even in production.

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Thats a new Euro saftey standard that may make it here. Pedistrians aparently get hit a lot over there, so they are now required to have some sort of pedistrain saftey system. That only works for going at 30mph or less and hitting somone that weighs 200 lbs. It really wont do anything for two 3000 lb cars meeting.

 

We are getting closer and closer to where if we are lucky the only thing in a car we can modify is the car radio.

 

nipper

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What we really need is a large air bag, at the rear of the car, that inflates right before an impact. With modern technology, it's easy enough to sense an approaching object, its approximate size, and relative speed. If something big is still moving too fast when it's a couple feet (or whatever distance is designed for) away, the bag would deploy. It might not be able to totally eliminate "body" damage (to both the car and the people inside), but it could potentially reduce bent metal and injury significantly.

 

If anyone patents/produces/markets anything based on the above concept, I expect royalties :). Actually, I'd be surprised if something like that isn't already on someone's "drawing board" (CAD system), or even in production.

 

Need to understand some physics and enertia here. This isnt the same as a airbag inside a car.

If there was a big airbag on the back of the car and it was hit by another car at substantial speed, what happens?

The airbag doesnt just go poof! and you remain where you were parked/stopped. The enertia/energy has to go somewhere.

You ever have a beach ball against your chest and someone punches it?

You get propeled backwards. The energy gets transfered thru the ball and into you.

Dont think this one would work.

I think we need a accordian suspension. We see it in cartoons all the time:-p

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Need to understand some physics and enertia here. This isnt the same as a airbag inside a car.

If there was a big airbag on the back of the car and it was hit by another car at substantial speed, what happens?

The airbag doesnt just go poof! and you remain where you were parked/stopped. The enertia/energy has to go somewhere.

You ever have a beach ball against your chest and someone punches it?

You get propeled backwards. The energy gets transfered thru the ball and into you.

Dont think this one would work.

I think we need a accordian suspension. We see it in cartoons all the time:-p

 

Part of the reason i raised Blu.

 

nipper

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Nipper said "It really wont do anything for two 3000 lb cars meeting." Turbone said "This isnt the same as a airbag inside a car.[...]You get propeled backwards. The energy gets transfered thru the ball and into you. Dont think this one would work." I believe that the reality is somewhere between those two extremes.

 

While I wasn't totally serious in my "suggestion" (note the tone of the preceeding posts by ericem and mtsmiths), don't be too dismissive of the concept. Properly designed, such a system could do something to reduce forces transferred to the vehicle occupants; I didn't suggest that it would eliminate all damage and injury, and of course the relative speed of the two vehicles would play a role in how effective it could be. In addition, SRS airbags have a very controlled but rapid deflation, and that's key for energy absorption/dissipation and minimized force transfer in any airbag system.

 

Try a Google search on "Charles H. Duell" for perspective. :)

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Thats a new Euro saftey standard that may make it here. Pedistrians aparently get hit a lot over there, so they are now required to have some sort of pedistrain saftey system. That only works for going at 30mph or less and hitting somone that weighs 200 lbs. It really wont do anything for two 3000 lb cars meeting.

 

We are getting closer and closer to where if we are lucky the only thing in a car we can modify is the car radio.

 

nipper

 

Hey Nipper judging from your spelling pedestrians are really rare there, apparently not commonly used in newspapers when some were ran over :) . No worries mine is also far from perfect.

 

Yes there are new safety rules comming to market over Here. Dunno about there but all subarus from 04 have special windscreen wipers (no not to wipe the blood away:grin: ) which break off and bonnet comes up to catch up the pedestrian just hit. This makes their being hit by a car little more comfortable (how much that ever can be).

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my speling isnt great, but my typing is the problem. Nerve damage from the car accident. Its coming back but its at that "going to get worse before it gets better" point.

 

I know some mfgs are also using explosives on the hood too.

 

If people would take personal responsability and just learn how to crosss the street this wouldnt be needed.

 

We have two stretches of raod here that are very bloody. One they blamed the drivers of the cars and started strict enforcement. They studied all the accidents and found out 95% of them were the pedestrians fault. Yet they still decided to make driving miserable.

Another section where 100% of the problem is the pedestrians (highway no intersections) they are letting traffic be.

You cant protect people from themselves if they are going to do stupid things.

I hit a pedestrian once, horrible horrible thing. Technically he hit me. All the damage was behind the drivers side front wheel and the windsheild pillar. He ran across (again) a busy 6 lane road, and against the light (two cops saw the accident).

Accident was 100% his fault yet he still went after my insurance company. I was so ticked, I didnt want them to settle.

 

I wonder how long before mandatory knee pads with airbags in them.

 

nipper

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Dude you don't need a horn. You need something that will throw something at there car. Like a basketball :lol:
Ford sort of had the right idea with the Pinto. They installed a splashguard between the tank and the muffler. This basically was instant revenge on the car that hit the pinto, as this is where the ensuing flame was thrown.

 

nipper

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We are getting closer and closer to where if we are lucky the only thing in a car we can modify is the car radio.

That point is already passed. Its extremely difficult to replace the radios on many of the new cars. Tied into the HVAC, SRS, airbags, etc...

 

Airbags would not help so much. Bumpers that shot out an extra distance to slow the deceleration rate would. Speed doesn't kill, rapid deceleration does.

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That point is already passed. Its extremely difficult to replace the radios on many of the new cars. Tied into the HVAC, SRS, airbags, etc...

 

Airbags would not help so much. Bumpers that shot out an extra distance to slow the deceleration rate would. Speed doesn't kill, rapid deceleration does.

 

I heard that besides having "OnStar" and the black box recording everything that happens with the car, now it will be able to record everything said in the car thru the radio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAHA, I love starting rumours:-p

Unfortunatly, this may be true some day:-\

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I heard that besides having "OnStar" and the black box recording everything that happens with the car, now it will be able to record everything said in the car thru the radio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAHA, I love starting rumours:-p

Unfortunatly, this may be true some day:-\

 

Your worst enemy, a bored onstar employee

 

nipper

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I heard that besides having "OnStar" and the black box recording everything that happens with the car, now it will be able to record everything said in the car thru the radio.

 

HAHA, I love starting rumours:-p

Unfortunatly, this may be true some day:-\

 

actually this is already a possibility. any vehicle equipped with a communication system like onstar is considered by the US government to be an off-limits place for a classified (government) discussion.

 

going back to the original idea: if you have a wagon with a rear wiper and washer nozzle, take the nozzle off the wash hose, and now you've got a rear-facing water cannon. this wouild be fairly easy to rig for any car, since a wash tank and pump would be a pretty easy thing to get from a junkyard and rig to a new switch...hehe

~Erik~

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actually this is already a possibility. any vehicle equipped with a communication system like onstar is considered by the US government to be an off-limits place for a classified (government) discussion.

 

going back to the original idea: if you have a wagon with a rear wiper and washer nozzle, take the nozzle off the wash hose, and now you've got a rear-facing water cannon. this wouild be fairly easy to rig for any car, since a wash tank and pump would be a pretty easy thing to get from a junkyard and rig to a new switch...hehe

~Erik~

 

I actually did this to my first Subaru. It was a 82 GLF Coupe and I took a washer setup, drilled a hole in my trunk lid and put the washer tip on it backwards. It worked very well and usually got a surprised look from TG'rs and then a grin/laugh. They usually backed off too.

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[...]Airbags would not help so much. Bumpers that shot out an extra distance to slow the deceleration rate would. Speed doesn't kill, rapid deceleration does.

So how would you have those bumpers "shot out an extra distance", and what would absorb/dissipate the energy of the impact on the bumpers? Perhaps airbags with rapid inflation and controlled deflation underneath the bumper skin would work :) ? (And yes, I'm aware of the possible use of hydraulics, etc.)

 

One of the problems is lack of standards for bumper height; this approach could get around that: http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/mars-rover-airbag.jpg ;)

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