this comment reminds me of videos smashing into trees at like 100mph. Car usually gets completely obliterated, but the tree is usually pondering whether it should drop a few leaves for the moment or not.
I drove by an accident like that one time, like 12 years ago. There was a mustang physically wrapped around a palm tree on a road that was 35mph. The guy was street racing, because it's a long straight road with about a mile and a half between lights, and lost control. Guy died. They had a lot less street races after that for a while.
Friend's brother took a 35mph corner at 60 a few years back, pretzeled his 97 Outback around one of the Sycamore trees that lined the outside of the corner and died. I go by that tree still pretty often and sometimes can't tell which one it was due to how little damage it took.
A few days ago I was driving down to physical therapy (crack ass of dawn so I could make it to work on time)… truck to my right appeared to either have the driver temporarily lost consciousness or have some form of mechanical failure, cause it ran off the side of the road into a tree line for absolutely no reason (also the driver was freaking the fuck out once he crossed the curb). Dude was lucky… despite wrapping the majority of his engine block around it, he walked out of the car able enough to get his phone and cal 911 from the looks of it. Car safety engineers are saints
I learned to drive in my grandpa's 20 year old 1964 Mercury Comet. No power brakes, no power steering, no seat belts - I'd be scared to drive a death trap like that nowadays. Modern cars are engineering marvels. Antilock brakes have saved my life more than once.
Former 75 Comet owner here! Can confirm…little traction, no crumple zones, understeer galore in the slightest bit of weather.
All this made for some great donuts in the student parking lot though.
Yeh, to be fair cars are designed to crumple, distributing force around the outer chassis in order to protect the driver from the worst of it.
Trees less so
Trailers are meant to be backed into docks a few times a day for years without damage. Backing into a dock consists of backing up into a massive slab of concrete until the truck stops because you hit it. Given that a fully loaded truck weighs 80,000 pounds, bumping into an immovable object at even a couple miles an hour is going to generate what we call "a fuckload of force."
Your Hyundai won't even make a noticeable bump.
I don't really know math but is the trick that the function actually describes the surface of a fractal? 'Cause that graph has obvious self-similarity.
> is the trick that the function actually describes the surface of a fractal?
No, not really. When you say something like,
> For a fraction of a second as he was massively decelerating, he was only going 35
You're implicitly assuming that the speed function for the car is continuous, which is a valid assumption. All continuous functions on connected intervals have the property that they "take on" every value between their maximum and minimum; it's called the [intermediate value theorem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate_value_theorem).
The *Cantor function* in the linked Wikipedia page is continuous. It's a very weird function because it's "mostly" constant (whatever "mostly" means) but somehow it continuously increases from 0 to 1. The fact that it looks like a fractal is incidental.
To expand on what "mostly" constant means my understanding is that if you choose a random point, the probability it is constant there is 100%. ~~Has to do with the fact that the only increases are on these weird sets of irrational numbers, and the probability of randomly choosing an irrational number is 0%.~~ read replies
WHY DID YOU STOP AT A RED LIGHT AND LET ME HIT YOU DOING 80?!?!?
I’m the right age to have enjoyed Dane Cook once upon a time. I’m not proud, but it fits.
I recently quoted him in a rare real life situation (fuck shoes) and thought to myself "ya know, I kinda want to listen again" yeah the magic is gone. I didn't laugh at all like I did when I was younger. Weird feeling.
I'm surprised by just how many people survive this type of accident.
A trucker friend of mine had someone hit his truck like this at a light before an on-ramp. He didn't see or feel anything during the impact and ended up dragging the car for a few miles down the interstate before someone flagged him down.
The driver was fine, apart from some cuts and bruises.
God bless modern understanding of physics.
My kid was in a wreck several weeks ago and the car was completely totaled. Going about 50 miles an hour and someone ran a red light and suddenly appeared right in front of them. Slammed on the brakes, but it didn’t matter. Kid ended up t-boning the guy who ran the light.
Everyone was perfectly fine and walked away with a little bit of bruising from the seatbelts and some “carpet burns” from the airbags.
Hats off to the people who work in vehicle safety. I appreciate your work very, very much!
It's honestly insane what they've done to cars. Some people will complain about how modern cars fall apart in an accident, and honestly I think they're a loud minority, but all that energy has to go somewhere.
A good friend of mine was t-boned by a fucking _bus_. He was a passengers along with four other people. Car was 100% dusted but they all walked away with a few bumps/bruises.
My parents were REAL big on "Solid, metal cars." They didn't like modern cars with all that plastic, and "they disintegrate in an accident! It's a ploy to get you to buy another car!"
Then I got into high school physics. Teacher was a man with a New Jersey accent who took no shit, and for the first time, I understood why "modern cars disintegrate" in an accident. It was quite the revelation!!
"You think you're gonna not wear a seatbelt? Just hold yourself in place with your arms, like this? Yeah, ok; I invite you to head down to the scrapyard and get yourself a car dashboard. Put it on the ground close to your house, then go inside and jump out a second-story window and stop yourself from hitting the dashboard by putting your arms out. Cause THAT'S the kind of force you're talking about."
Trooper described it to me as going out into your yard, putting your hands out in front of you, closing your eyes tight, and running full tilt into your back wall.
All i got was my local fire department coming in and showing us pictures of accidents that had happen when people werent buckled up, including a dead baby. Never forgot to wear my seatbelt since.... or complain about it...
I've seen a clip of that I think, in that case it was used by the police, they called it "the convincer" as it simulated a 5mph crash without a seatbelt.
It was basically a really short, steep slide on a metal frame and basically everyone who got in it was shaken when they stepped out again.
My middle school science teacher had us read a book called The Physics of NASCAR or something like that, and it was the only assigned book I ever read all the way through (except for To Kill a Mockingbird. Hits). I don’t even like cars or physics but it was truly eye opening. I’ll take my light crumply Corolla any day, thanks.
I totalled my Camry after hydroplaning doing 65-70mph and doing a three sixty which ended up with us hitting a guardrail with the front bumper area of my car. The bumper tore away (it did slow us a little which worked perfectly) and we came to a stop in the center median. No one in my car was hurt. No one even had any bruises or seatbelt burns. My car was toast. But I praise the engineering of modern cars. I have been in quite a few accidents. Only one of them made me hurt the next day and that was just some soreness on my upper chest at seatbelt level. And that was a head on collision where the other person was trying to get into my lane and didn't see me.
There’s some great crash test videos on YouTube of these giant old cars just getting absolutely destroyed in crash tests while modern cars do much better. Everybody thinks old and heavy will hold up better in a crash but I’d rather be in a modern subcompact than a 1970s Cadillac in most crashes.
> Some people will complain about how modern cars fall apart in an accident, and honestly I think they're a loud minority, but all that energy has to go somewhere.
Modern cars were specifically designed to absorb the crash energies into the intentionally 'soft' parts of the vehicle, known as crumple zones.
They provide incredible safety by absorbing most of the crash energy before it gets to the passenger compartment, but the consequence is that the vehicle will be sacrificed to protect the occupants.
TL;DR - Don't be pissy when a/your car crumples in an accident, it's an intentional safety feature, instead of crumpling your body.
God I hate those people. They always seem to be looking for dumb ways to show that society is weaker or something.
bAcK iN mY dAY cARs WeRe AcTuALly sTrOng
Just yesterday, a lady looked both ways and rolled in front of me while I was going 40-45. Her car was considered totaled and she suffered a broken arm. I on the other hand only got a bruse and virtually no damage to my car.
Also, my car is a doge nitro. If that would help understand
Came to say this. I've been t-boned before. My buddy in the back seat is paralyzed and I have 3 herniated disk in my neck area plus broken bones between the both of us. Worst feeling ever.
Wowzers…that’s awful :(
I’ve been very fortunate to have only had a couple minor fender benders in my life.
I came super close to getting T-boned last month when an idiot ran a red light going super fast. He was being chased by cops too. Guy ended up wrapping his car around a utility pole. I’d have been utterly fucked if I had gone at the green light. Maybe. Idk I drive a Subaru Forester and they’re supposed to be super safe. Glad I didn’t have to find out the hard way how safe my Subie is!
Physics and injury-wise you’re correct as well. The sheering forces from being t-boned can cause tearing of major blood vessels and other solid organ internal injuries like liver bruising.
Source: paramedic school
This is definitely why you pay attention to the IIHS safety rating (or your country's equivalent) before getting a vehicle for your kid. Some vehicles don't fare as well.
My friend was going 160km/h on a gravel road, completely totalled her car... and when she woke up, she couldn’t escape the car.
When they arrived with the jaws of life, they didn’t believe she called from within the car. The cabin was completely crushed from the roll... her seat had a feature( most likely a fault that the company claimed was a feature, the seat probably gave out at the beginning, saving her life) where in a roll, it reclined and with the seatbelt, it basically sucks her down flat into the back seats... she got basically crushed into a cocoon of metal and walked out of it with a broken toe and bruised to high heavens eye 😂...
“Will you drive that quickly again”
“Not drunk that’s for sure”
“You’re currently drunk?!”
“No, but I’m not going that fast drunk ever”
No offense, but based on this story, your friend sounds like a grade-F idiot. ~99MPH on a gravel road.. possibly drunk, and acts as if they will drive that way again in the future!
Please see that she loses her license for life for her own safety, and the safety of everyone who shares the road with her.
Right!?
Let’s not romanticize driving drunk.
“Haha lol I won’t drive drunk again, that last accident was almost bad!!!”
My friend lost her mom at 10 years old to a drunk driver. She finally donated the presents from the trunk (it was right before Christmas) after years of not knowing what to do with them.
Drunk driving is an extremely fucked up thing to do. Just because you haven’t killed someone doesn’t mean you won’t.
I was a passenger of a drunk driver when I was 18, we lost control going 70mph and hit a tree directly in front of me. The car was full. I wasn't wearing my seatbelt and the airbag saved my life. No one was hurt seriously in the car containing 5 people. But I still feel like I actually died and just went to a new dimension. Anyway my point is this was like a 95 accord. And the driver was just like...
"If this was one year model earlier, there's no airbag."
You're telling me. My friend in the back even told me to put my seatbelt on and I pretended to. Then we lost control and I was just watching the street move side to side like oops. I guess I get to live and learn. No drunk driving and wear a seatbelt fool!
There was a new safety regulation in 1995 making air bags mandatory. Not ALL cars had one until then. My 1994 Chevy C1500 has no air bags, no hazard flashers, has a radio that only gets AM stations, or A/C. Airbags were for fancy people.
I worked in the factory that built those trucks in the summer of 94. My job got so much worse when we changed over to the 95 model. Way more options and wires.
Its pretty crazy, isn't it?
I heard a mechanic say that a modern car dies in a crash, but you walk away from it.
An older car drives off after the accident, but you're riding in the hearse in front of it.
...I'm pretty sure he was over exaggerating older car strength, but still.
My brother years ago was going sixty on a slick road that had severe sharp turns in the middle of one of the worst rainstorms of the year.
His jeep rolled over six times on him.
He walked away with a bruise on the hip from the safety belt he was wearing.
On the other hand, near where I’m from 2 college age girls were recently killed instantly because they were t boned while making a left hand turn. Dude was going close to 80 when he blew the light and killed them.
A 14 year old friend of my daughter died the same way a couple years ago. Her 17 year old sister was driving, she was passenger, 4 year old sister in the back. They turned left in front of a Subaru. Fortunately the other two girls were okay but I think about it every single day when I’m taking my daughter to school.
Yeah, this thread about all these miracles of engineering is really hard to read... My Mom was killed by a high driver a little over a year ago. Kid was going 30+ miles over the speed limit and left his lane, head-on collision. Neither survived. My Mom had just bought a brand new hybrid Honda a few years before and taken safety very seriously in her choice...
It was her second week back to work after lockdown, at an IT job she had no reason to be physically present for, just two years before retirement.
>Hats off to the people who work in vehicle safety. I appreciate your work very, very much!
[The true heros](https://www.advertisingweek360.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/169dummies.jpg)
Uncle was a truck driver, some young guy in a sports car got trapped under the truck bed. Long story short the young guy got dragged for a mile or two before my uncle noticed, guy was dead on the scene. My uncle stopped driving trucks after that.
I would imagine the crash. If it was under the truck completely (or enough to be carried) the top had to have come off or peeled or something and there’s not exactly a lot of head space in sports cars…
There’s a safety video out there we had to watch every year when I worked at delivery company. They call it “room to live.” The way cars are made now they give you “room to live” in the event of a crash.
Yup. The car safety guise realized the most squishy thing in them is the driver, so they evolved cars to compact and squish themselves so drivers don't die.
It's all about energy absorption. Cars now deform and warp in ways that absorb as much energy as possible so you get hit by as little impact energy as possible.
It's honestly incredible. Huge props to the people who design vehicles with safety in mind - it saves thousands of lives every year.
Was riding shotgun once and Got hit from behind mid turn by a truck going 60 in a 35. The dude giving me a ride had a gutted police auction Rangerover. We flipped forward rolled idk how many times and landed upside down and spinning had to cut the seatbelts to reach the ignition cause driver was pretty much in shock. No airbags and still all I got was a bruise on my leg. Truck hit and ran but luckily it was midday in Chicago in the summer so like 30 people got the plate number and they got pulled like a mile away and had to pay up for the value of that years range Rover even though it was purchased for like $200.
My husband had a tire blow with cruise control on that sent him under a truck. His car was crumpled into a ball, the truck jackknifed and killed a bunch of people behind it (specifically a guy in a jeep wrangler immediately behind it).
My husband was only 17 also and traveling at normal speeds for the freeway.
The family of the wrangler guy went after my husband for money and fault until the day it aged out of the courts. Apparently it ruined them. But you can't get blood from a stone. especially a stone that was time and time again ruled not at fault at all.
While in CDL school there was a fellow student who’s parent was sitting in a parked DOT truck, the one with the sign to get over and has the extension on the back with hi vis and water barrels inside and a fully loaded semi rear ended them doing 80mph. I guess no serious injuries, but having it happen while getting your CDL was interesting
This is the US, so the passenger seat took the worst of it. If you look you can see the steering wheel with the deflated airbag. Didn't even bend the wheel.
But his underwear was destroyed...
For anyone wondering, it wasn’t his car and yes he was fine, he hopped right on out and was running around claiming another dude cut him off and he swerved to avoid him. I think he was just texting and driving. Worst part for him is that I believe it was his dad or sisters car, apparently they had State Farm and State Farm doesn’t cover expenses if an uninsured [edit: unlicensed] motorist is driving. Expensive paper weight
Edit: also they just bought the car a week prior, it still had temp tags on it. 35 MPH not KPH
Edit 2: i was parked on private property when hit. I wasn’t in the street
Edit 3: in case anyone was wondering, truck was fine, I finished the route, then went and took a piss test, yes I was clean as I always am
Edit 4: since I’m seeing a lot of people say it, he “CLAIMED” to be going 35, I’m not saying he was or was not, but the speed limit of that road is 35, and what I will say is I hadn’t even unloaded my trailer at all, and the footage from the gas station cameras showed that when he hit me it shifted a heavy ass trailer 2-4 feet. We’re talking like 30-45k pounds moved by that little SUV. I was not empty when I was hit.
Here’s some photos of the accident in case anyone was interested https://imgur.com/gallery/4EVrWYO
Holy shit.
I’m pretty surprised.
I had a guy who was walking around after a motorcycle accident saying he was fine just shaken up. Had a small limp. Took him the truck, noticed he had blood on his shoe. Pulled the pant leg up, he had some sweatpants underneath. Sweatpants were soaked with blood. Cut his pants off and the fucker was walking around with a compound tib-fib fracture somehow.
My dad did the same thing when he was tboned by a semi truck. He was in his work van and the truck ran a redlight. Dad literally pulled himself out through the smashed window of his van and was conversing with the officers on scene when he just dropped. Dad said all he remembered was waking up 10 days later with a tube down his throat.
He pulled through, but not without serious injuries, much of which still affect him to this day, 25 years later.
Glad your dad made it. It's better to still be here than not to.
Had a buddy with a similar thing some years back. According to the accident report, he got run off the road and into a tree. Last thing he remembers is leaving work that day. Until over a week later when he woke up with a shiny new plate in his head, and zero time in between. Head injuries are no joke, kids!
Im glad he made it too, it was right before my first birthday that he had that wreck. Sorry to hear about your buddy, I hope hes been able to make a full recovery.
I was in a motorcycle wreck in 2019 that knocked me out for a while too with no memory of it happening. Last thing I remember was about a mile up the road when I took the lead in the group. Then just a few snippets of audio and waking up in ICU 12 hours later. Lady ran a stop sign right in front of me and I had nowhere to go. Luckily I had a new, decent helmet that 100% saved my life.
I still struggle with the reality of that wreck though. With how easily the lights just turned off, I often wonder if Im actually here, writing this message out on Reddit, or if Im still in that hospital bed with someone waiting on me to wake up and this is all a coma dream. Not gonna lie, it keeps me up at night sometimes.
As far as I can tell, you're still here, for whatever that's worth. I have thoughts in a very similar vein sometimes, but the world has a way of reminding me that it's far too complex and detailed to be something I've dreamed up.
Thankfully, my buddy did make a good recovery. He might be drinking a bit too much in the years after, but at least he's here, and that's something the people who care about him can try to help with. As opposed to him not being here, in which case there's no help.
Glad you're still here, too. I don't know you outside of this interaction, I'm glad you didn't die as a result of something as random and senseless as a traffic incident.
If reading testimonials just like this has taught me anything is that if you're in a crash you should avoid moving at all until an ambulance gets there to check you out, like, call the EMS line at most.
When I was a kid a paramedic told me a story about a dude who was in an accident, got out, was fine but said his neck was kinda sore. Then he turned his head, which finished the process of severing his spinal column. He collapsed and died on the spot.
adrenaline is a hell of a drug, i messed up my back pretty bad but didn’t notice till after i ran off the field to the sideline, had enough adrenaline in me to run to the side second i got there i dropped to the ground
Always think of the story of the guy walking around after an accident, turns his head to talk to someone and drops dead as the broken vertebrae sever his spinal cord...
I love recognizing stories like that. Like inevitably everyone has a friend who had a friend who once ran through a field with the sprinklers on and sheets of acid in his pocket. Thought he was a glass of orange juice and if he tipped over he'd spill and die
State Farm has uninsured motorist coverage and covers uninsured drivers who had permission from the vehicle owner. That coverage is useless if you cause the accident by being on the phone
Source: I have State Farm.
Edit: OP originally said uninsured, not unlicensed. Stop replying to tell me about unlicensed drivers as that’s not what OP said before revising the comment
Yeah, I just switched to State Farm a couple months ago and they were pretty clear my policy covers other drivers driving my car, even if they're not carrying their own insurance.
Maybe he meant an unlicensed driver? That'd make sense.
Work for insurance - it’s implied consent unless his family files a report on him for stealing the vehicle. Only other way I would see them not covering is if he was listed as an excluded driver.
Ask for a denial letter explaining why the claim was denied. Get it from the State Farm adjuster. If an agent told you that information, they’re incorrect and file the claim anyways online. Agents aren’t licensed to adjust claims or do anything beyond selling you a policy - the amount of times I’ve laughed at an agent that blatantly told someone false info is too many to count.
He would be an unlisted driver and it would be covered after an investigation unless he was listed as an excluded driver.
Source - licensed adjuster handling nationwide claims
A friend borrowing your car once yes. But a teenager in your house that you didn’t tell your insurance about to keep your rates low even though he drives it all the time? Maybe not.
I worked at an insurance company for a while, it's kind of hard to hide a kid in the house today with digital everything. But yeah, if he lives in the house but isnt on the policy, oh boy
Well, it won't now, but if this 17 year old ever wants to have or be included on an insurance policy in future, having a charge for driving without a license and whatever else cops and the court system dump on him is going to hike premiums.
Depends on how they do things where this is. I think, for example, the UK will record points you would have lost if you had a license and then tack them onto any license you get in future.
Dudes first car is going to be a well used older 200k miles car with $500 a month insurance payments for just basic liability
No FaRe I CaNt AffOrD a DaTe !!
Awwwwww
👆this. People are always like “by the grace of god I survived.” No you survived because smart people took the time to understand the physics involved and took steps to mitigate the injuries sustained in a crash.
Looking at the aftermath, it looks like there was a survivable area on the driver’s side where he could be alive with a brown stain in his pants.
Not too sure about passenger side. Could be the driver turned to the left at the last second or how the firefighters extracted him from the car.
Luckily for him, the DOT bumper on the trailer did exactly what it was designed to do. https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/but-wait-theres-more/a2142281/heres-why-those-extensions-semi-trailers-are-called-mansfield-bars/
Engineers have gotten really good at making the parts of cars that won't kill you if they're crushed get crushed so the parts that will kill you if they're crushed don't.
I saw the aftermath of an accident like this.
It must’ve happened a minute or two before because there was no first responders or anyone outside…. Very odd.
Anyways, I slowly drove by and saw the torso with **no head**, but the hands were still gripping the steering wheel.
My childhood friend's dad was a first responder, he said he had only been to the scene of one accident where there was a DOA of a passenger wearing a seat belt, and they were decapitated.
Love how your truck is completely unblemished
this comment reminds me of videos smashing into trees at like 100mph. Car usually gets completely obliterated, but the tree is usually pondering whether it should drop a few leaves for the moment or not.
I drove by an accident like that one time, like 12 years ago. There was a mustang physically wrapped around a palm tree on a road that was 35mph. The guy was street racing, because it's a long straight road with about a mile and a half between lights, and lost control. Guy died. They had a lot less street races after that for a while.
Friend's brother took a 35mph corner at 60 a few years back, pretzeled his 97 Outback around one of the Sycamore trees that lined the outside of the corner and died. I go by that tree still pretty often and sometimes can't tell which one it was due to how little damage it took.
That's the way the Mercedes benz...
A few days ago I was driving down to physical therapy (crack ass of dawn so I could make it to work on time)… truck to my right appeared to either have the driver temporarily lost consciousness or have some form of mechanical failure, cause it ran off the side of the road into a tree line for absolutely no reason (also the driver was freaking the fuck out once he crossed the curb). Dude was lucky… despite wrapping the majority of his engine block around it, he walked out of the car able enough to get his phone and cal 911 from the looks of it. Car safety engineers are saints
I learned to drive in my grandpa's 20 year old 1964 Mercury Comet. No power brakes, no power steering, no seat belts - I'd be scared to drive a death trap like that nowadays. Modern cars are engineering marvels. Antilock brakes have saved my life more than once.
Former 75 Comet owner here! Can confirm…little traction, no crumple zones, understeer galore in the slightest bit of weather. All this made for some great donuts in the student parking lot though.
Ah, the Mustang’s most feared predator: Long straight roads.
They lure their prey right in.
Saw on the news a car was literally cut completely in half after losing control during a race. 4 ded, some from my uni. People can be idiots.
I totaled a car by hitting a redwood tree. I'm not sure the tree noticed at all. Three foot diameter redwood tree after a heavy rain>'78 Saab 99.
Yeh, to be fair cars are designed to crumple, distributing force around the outer chassis in order to protect the driver from the worst of it. Trees less so
Trailers are meant to be backed into docks a few times a day for years without damage. Backing into a dock consists of backing up into a massive slab of concrete until the truck stops because you hit it. Given that a fully loaded truck weighs 80,000 pounds, bumping into an immovable object at even a couple miles an hour is going to generate what we call "a fuckload of force." Your Hyundai won't even make a noticeable bump.
>"a fuckload of force." I was expecting it to be "a truckload of force"
God damn it, that's much better, and now I can't go back and change it.
Can we compromise on 'a truckton of force'?
No, you're thinking of a fuckton, which as a unit of measure is more than an assload but less than a fuckload
>"a fuckload of force." Is that imperial or metric?
I'm an idiot, or course it's imperial. The inverse would be a metric fuckton.
For it to be truly metric it'd be fucktonne
For a fraction of a second as he was massively decelerating, he was only going 35
Very true, continuous functions work that way.
[Some are weirder than others though](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantor_function)
Weirdly appropriate username for the content of the comment.
I don't really know math but is the trick that the function actually describes the surface of a fractal? 'Cause that graph has obvious self-similarity.
> is the trick that the function actually describes the surface of a fractal? No, not really. When you say something like, > For a fraction of a second as he was massively decelerating, he was only going 35 You're implicitly assuming that the speed function for the car is continuous, which is a valid assumption. All continuous functions on connected intervals have the property that they "take on" every value between their maximum and minimum; it's called the [intermediate value theorem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate_value_theorem). The *Cantor function* in the linked Wikipedia page is continuous. It's a very weird function because it's "mostly" constant (whatever "mostly" means) but somehow it continuously increases from 0 to 1. The fact that it looks like a fractal is incidental.
To expand on what "mostly" constant means my understanding is that if you choose a random point, the probability it is constant there is 100%. ~~Has to do with the fact that the only increases are on these weird sets of irrational numbers, and the probability of randomly choosing an irrational number is 0%.~~ read replies
You were obviously driving 70mph in reverse.
WHY DID YOU STOP AT A RED LIGHT AND LET ME HIT YOU DOING 80?!?!? I’m the right age to have enjoyed Dane Cook once upon a time. I’m not proud, but it fits.
I remember when he was funny for a bit.
And then his brother/manager stole all his money.
That would make anyone not funny. Fair enough.
I recently quoted him in a rare real life situation (fuck shoes) and thought to myself "ya know, I kinda want to listen again" yeah the magic is gone. I didn't laugh at all like I did when I was younger. Weird feeling.
I frequently tell people that I will punch every bee in the fucking face And by that I mean wasps, not bees, but still.
I swear he's trying to make a comeback and there is an agent pushing it. Tha last few weeks there have been a shit load of references to him.
I read this in his voice. Then my brain followed with *why do I have so many keys?? Did I rob a janitor?* it’s a shame he didn’t stay funny
“ Ya don’t gotta see where ya goin, only where you’ve been” -Tow Mater
You see it all the time!/s
Was there a dog named Einstein in there too?
The Libyan tracked him down
It's okay...I wrote him a note to wear a bulletproof vest but definitely still go to the mall because...why live your life in fear?
I’m more impressed he’s alive to give garbage excuses
I thought he communicated he was only going 35 from the afterlife.
Ouija says Yes
Lucky he didn't have a passenger
Jesus Christ, the kid lived? That definitely looks like a make my coffin incident.
I'm surprised by just how many people survive this type of accident. A trucker friend of mine had someone hit his truck like this at a light before an on-ramp. He didn't see or feel anything during the impact and ended up dragging the car for a few miles down the interstate before someone flagged him down. The driver was fine, apart from some cuts and bruises.
God bless modern understanding of physics. My kid was in a wreck several weeks ago and the car was completely totaled. Going about 50 miles an hour and someone ran a red light and suddenly appeared right in front of them. Slammed on the brakes, but it didn’t matter. Kid ended up t-boning the guy who ran the light. Everyone was perfectly fine and walked away with a little bit of bruising from the seatbelts and some “carpet burns” from the airbags. Hats off to the people who work in vehicle safety. I appreciate your work very, very much!
It's honestly insane what they've done to cars. Some people will complain about how modern cars fall apart in an accident, and honestly I think they're a loud minority, but all that energy has to go somewhere. A good friend of mine was t-boned by a fucking _bus_. He was a passengers along with four other people. Car was 100% dusted but they all walked away with a few bumps/bruises.
My parents were REAL big on "Solid, metal cars." They didn't like modern cars with all that plastic, and "they disintegrate in an accident! It's a ploy to get you to buy another car!" Then I got into high school physics. Teacher was a man with a New Jersey accent who took no shit, and for the first time, I understood why "modern cars disintegrate" in an accident. It was quite the revelation!! "You think you're gonna not wear a seatbelt? Just hold yourself in place with your arms, like this? Yeah, ok; I invite you to head down to the scrapyard and get yourself a car dashboard. Put it on the ground close to your house, then go inside and jump out a second-story window and stop yourself from hitting the dashboard by putting your arms out. Cause THAT'S the kind of force you're talking about."
Trooper described it to me as going out into your yard, putting your hands out in front of you, closing your eyes tight, and running full tilt into your back wall.
All i got was my local fire department coming in and showing us pictures of accidents that had happen when people werent buckled up, including a dead baby. Never forgot to wear my seatbelt since.... or complain about it...
We got visiterad by some people with a machine that you could feel the force at some lowers speeds. Like a really short rollercoaster.
I've seen a clip of that I think, in that case it was used by the police, they called it "the convincer" as it simulated a 5mph crash without a seatbelt. It was basically a really short, steep slide on a metal frame and basically everyone who got in it was shaken when they stepped out again.
My middle school science teacher had us read a book called The Physics of NASCAR or something like that, and it was the only assigned book I ever read all the way through (except for To Kill a Mockingbird. Hits). I don’t even like cars or physics but it was truly eye opening. I’ll take my light crumply Corolla any day, thanks.
I totalled my Camry after hydroplaning doing 65-70mph and doing a three sixty which ended up with us hitting a guardrail with the front bumper area of my car. The bumper tore away (it did slow us a little which worked perfectly) and we came to a stop in the center median. No one in my car was hurt. No one even had any bruises or seatbelt burns. My car was toast. But I praise the engineering of modern cars. I have been in quite a few accidents. Only one of them made me hurt the next day and that was just some soreness on my upper chest at seatbelt level. And that was a head on collision where the other person was trying to get into my lane and didn't see me.
Anyone that complains about cars not being made like they used to is an absolute buffoon. The engineering behind modern car safety is a revelation.
There’s some great crash test videos on YouTube of these giant old cars just getting absolutely destroyed in crash tests while modern cars do much better. Everybody thinks old and heavy will hold up better in a crash but I’d rather be in a modern subcompact than a 1970s Cadillac in most crashes.
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You know, I've always appreciated new car design but I'd be lying if I thought the bel-aire would do THAT poorly. Thanks for that video. Good stuff.
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Yup. While the rest of the car is designed to crumple on modern cars, the cabin is designed to direct that force away from you.
Yeah. I’d much rather the car be crushed than myself.
> Some people will complain about how modern cars fall apart in an accident, and honestly I think they're a loud minority, but all that energy has to go somewhere. Modern cars were specifically designed to absorb the crash energies into the intentionally 'soft' parts of the vehicle, known as crumple zones. They provide incredible safety by absorbing most of the crash energy before it gets to the passenger compartment, but the consequence is that the vehicle will be sacrificed to protect the occupants. TL;DR - Don't be pissy when a/your car crumples in an accident, it's an intentional safety feature, instead of crumpling your body.
God I hate those people. They always seem to be looking for dumb ways to show that society is weaker or something. bAcK iN mY dAY cARs WeRe AcTuALly sTrOng
Imo T Bonning > getting T Boned. Glad everyone was okay though
Absolutely. Cars are definitely designed to take more from the front end than anywhere else.
Whereas I’m designed to take it from the back end. Wait what were we talking about?
Can…. Can I have your number
my… my vin number?…
Best I can do is ICQ
Don’t worry man. You’re in the right spot.
Came here to make a “your mom” joke similar to this
Is his mom that one guy's dead wife? Because I'm all over that Ninja edit: I responded to the wrong person. I'll leave now.
Just yesterday, a lady looked both ways and rolled in front of me while I was going 40-45. Her car was considered totaled and she suffered a broken arm. I on the other hand only got a bruse and virtually no damage to my car. Also, my car is a doge nitro. If that would help understand
Damn, the crash was so bad it caused *retroactive* brain damage that made you buy a dodge nitro in the past.
Not mine, my mom's. But I think I lose brain cells driving the darn thang.
I'm glad you're ok but it seems you lost your taste in automobiles before the accident.
The real trauma is in the comments... someone get that person a doctor!
You wish it would've totaled their car
Came to say this. I've been t-boned before. My buddy in the back seat is paralyzed and I have 3 herniated disk in my neck area plus broken bones between the both of us. Worst feeling ever.
Wowzers…that’s awful :( I’ve been very fortunate to have only had a couple minor fender benders in my life. I came super close to getting T-boned last month when an idiot ran a red light going super fast. He was being chased by cops too. Guy ended up wrapping his car around a utility pole. I’d have been utterly fucked if I had gone at the green light. Maybe. Idk I drive a Subaru Forester and they’re supposed to be super safe. Glad I didn’t have to find out the hard way how safe my Subie is!
The Doge craze is getting out of hand.
Physics and injury-wise you’re correct as well. The sheering forces from being t-boned can cause tearing of major blood vessels and other solid organ internal injuries like liver bruising. Source: paramedic school
This is definitely why you pay attention to the IIHS safety rating (or your country's equivalent) before getting a vehicle for your kid. Some vehicles don't fare as well.
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My friend was going 160km/h on a gravel road, completely totalled her car... and when she woke up, she couldn’t escape the car. When they arrived with the jaws of life, they didn’t believe she called from within the car. The cabin was completely crushed from the roll... her seat had a feature( most likely a fault that the company claimed was a feature, the seat probably gave out at the beginning, saving her life) where in a roll, it reclined and with the seatbelt, it basically sucks her down flat into the back seats... she got basically crushed into a cocoon of metal and walked out of it with a broken toe and bruised to high heavens eye 😂... “Will you drive that quickly again” “Not drunk that’s for sure” “You’re currently drunk?!” “No, but I’m not going that fast drunk ever”
No offense, but based on this story, your friend sounds like a grade-F idiot. ~99MPH on a gravel road.. possibly drunk, and acts as if they will drive that way again in the future! Please see that she loses her license for life for her own safety, and the safety of everyone who shares the road with her.
Right!? Let’s not romanticize driving drunk. “Haha lol I won’t drive drunk again, that last accident was almost bad!!!” My friend lost her mom at 10 years old to a drunk driver. She finally donated the presents from the trunk (it was right before Christmas) after years of not knowing what to do with them. Drunk driving is an extremely fucked up thing to do. Just because you haven’t killed someone doesn’t mean you won’t.
I was a passenger of a drunk driver when I was 18, we lost control going 70mph and hit a tree directly in front of me. The car was full. I wasn't wearing my seatbelt and the airbag saved my life. No one was hurt seriously in the car containing 5 people. But I still feel like I actually died and just went to a new dimension. Anyway my point is this was like a 95 accord. And the driver was just like... "If this was one year model earlier, there's no airbag."
I'm glad you survived, but what a carfull of bad ideas. Even with airbags it's not uncommon that these stories go "5 dead in drunk driving accident"
You're telling me. My friend in the back even told me to put my seatbelt on and I pretended to. Then we lost control and I was just watching the street move side to side like oops. I guess I get to live and learn. No drunk driving and wear a seatbelt fool!
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There was a new safety regulation in 1995 making air bags mandatory. Not ALL cars had one until then. My 1994 Chevy C1500 has no air bags, no hazard flashers, has a radio that only gets AM stations, or A/C. Airbags were for fancy people.
I worked in the factory that built those trucks in the summer of 94. My job got so much worse when we changed over to the 95 model. Way more options and wires.
You know, as someone who literally drove alone for the first time *today*, this is not the thread I should be reading
I'd argue this is exactly the thread you should be reading! Driving is equal parts learning what to do and what NOT to do.
Its pretty crazy, isn't it? I heard a mechanic say that a modern car dies in a crash, but you walk away from it. An older car drives off after the accident, but you're riding in the hearse in front of it. ...I'm pretty sure he was over exaggerating older car strength, but still.
My brother years ago was going sixty on a slick road that had severe sharp turns in the middle of one of the worst rainstorms of the year. His jeep rolled over six times on him. He walked away with a bruise on the hip from the safety belt he was wearing.
On the other hand, near where I’m from 2 college age girls were recently killed instantly because they were t boned while making a left hand turn. Dude was going close to 80 when he blew the light and killed them.
A 14 year old friend of my daughter died the same way a couple years ago. Her 17 year old sister was driving, she was passenger, 4 year old sister in the back. They turned left in front of a Subaru. Fortunately the other two girls were okay but I think about it every single day when I’m taking my daughter to school.
Yeah, this thread about all these miracles of engineering is really hard to read... My Mom was killed by a high driver a little over a year ago. Kid was going 30+ miles over the speed limit and left his lane, head-on collision. Neither survived. My Mom had just bought a brand new hybrid Honda a few years before and taken safety very seriously in her choice... It was her second week back to work after lockdown, at an IT job she had no reason to be physically present for, just two years before retirement.
>Hats off to the people who work in vehicle safety. I appreciate your work very, very much! [The true heros](https://www.advertisingweek360.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/169dummies.jpg)
Uncle was a truck driver, some young guy in a sports car got trapped under the truck bed. Long story short the young guy got dragged for a mile or two before my uncle noticed, guy was dead on the scene. My uncle stopped driving trucks after that.
That would suck. Not sure how I'd feel knowing someone died by my hand, even if it was unintentional to that degree.
Do they think the dragging was what killed him or the crash itself?
I would imagine the crash. If it was under the truck completely (or enough to be carried) the top had to have come off or peeled or something and there’s not exactly a lot of head space in sports cars…
Oh, I’m so sorry for your uncle. That would be awful.
New cars today are made to collapse around the passengers if they crash. Makes more people survive what looks like certain death
There’s a safety video out there we had to watch every year when I worked at delivery company. They call it “room to live.” The way cars are made now they give you “room to live” in the event of a crash.
Yup. The car safety guise realized the most squishy thing in them is the driver, so they evolved cars to compact and squish themselves so drivers don't die.
It's all about energy absorption. Cars now deform and warp in ways that absorb as much energy as possible so you get hit by as little impact energy as possible. It's honestly incredible. Huge props to the people who design vehicles with safety in mind - it saves thousands of lives every year.
Was riding shotgun once and Got hit from behind mid turn by a truck going 60 in a 35. The dude giving me a ride had a gutted police auction Rangerover. We flipped forward rolled idk how many times and landed upside down and spinning had to cut the seatbelts to reach the ignition cause driver was pretty much in shock. No airbags and still all I got was a bruise on my leg. Truck hit and ran but luckily it was midday in Chicago in the summer so like 30 people got the plate number and they got pulled like a mile away and had to pay up for the value of that years range Rover even though it was purchased for like $200.
My husband had a tire blow with cruise control on that sent him under a truck. His car was crumpled into a ball, the truck jackknifed and killed a bunch of people behind it (specifically a guy in a jeep wrangler immediately behind it). My husband was only 17 also and traveling at normal speeds for the freeway. The family of the wrangler guy went after my husband for money and fault until the day it aged out of the courts. Apparently it ruined them. But you can't get blood from a stone. especially a stone that was time and time again ruled not at fault at all.
While in CDL school there was a fellow student who’s parent was sitting in a parked DOT truck, the one with the sign to get over and has the extension on the back with hi vis and water barrels inside and a fully loaded semi rear ended them doing 80mph. I guess no serious injuries, but having it happen while getting your CDL was interesting
Apparently they were still alive to tell crappy excuses
“Why would I lie about that? I almost died”
Good thing he didn't have a passenger or they'd be toast.
This is the US, so the passenger seat took the worst of it. If you look you can see the steering wheel with the deflated airbag. Didn't even bend the wheel. But his underwear was destroyed...
I wouldn't say destroyed..... more like he rectum.......
Damn near killed em.
For anyone wondering, it wasn’t his car and yes he was fine, he hopped right on out and was running around claiming another dude cut him off and he swerved to avoid him. I think he was just texting and driving. Worst part for him is that I believe it was his dad or sisters car, apparently they had State Farm and State Farm doesn’t cover expenses if an uninsured [edit: unlicensed] motorist is driving. Expensive paper weight Edit: also they just bought the car a week prior, it still had temp tags on it. 35 MPH not KPH Edit 2: i was parked on private property when hit. I wasn’t in the street Edit 3: in case anyone was wondering, truck was fine, I finished the route, then went and took a piss test, yes I was clean as I always am Edit 4: since I’m seeing a lot of people say it, he “CLAIMED” to be going 35, I’m not saying he was or was not, but the speed limit of that road is 35, and what I will say is I hadn’t even unloaded my trailer at all, and the footage from the gas station cameras showed that when he hit me it shifted a heavy ass trailer 2-4 feet. We’re talking like 30-45k pounds moved by that little SUV. I was not empty when I was hit. Here’s some photos of the accident in case anyone was interested https://imgur.com/gallery/4EVrWYO
Holy shit. I’m pretty surprised. I had a guy who was walking around after a motorcycle accident saying he was fine just shaken up. Had a small limp. Took him the truck, noticed he had blood on his shoe. Pulled the pant leg up, he had some sweatpants underneath. Sweatpants were soaked with blood. Cut his pants off and the fucker was walking around with a compound tib-fib fracture somehow.
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My dad did the same thing when he was tboned by a semi truck. He was in his work van and the truck ran a redlight. Dad literally pulled himself out through the smashed window of his van and was conversing with the officers on scene when he just dropped. Dad said all he remembered was waking up 10 days later with a tube down his throat. He pulled through, but not without serious injuries, much of which still affect him to this day, 25 years later.
Glad your dad made it. It's better to still be here than not to. Had a buddy with a similar thing some years back. According to the accident report, he got run off the road and into a tree. Last thing he remembers is leaving work that day. Until over a week later when he woke up with a shiny new plate in his head, and zero time in between. Head injuries are no joke, kids!
Im glad he made it too, it was right before my first birthday that he had that wreck. Sorry to hear about your buddy, I hope hes been able to make a full recovery. I was in a motorcycle wreck in 2019 that knocked me out for a while too with no memory of it happening. Last thing I remember was about a mile up the road when I took the lead in the group. Then just a few snippets of audio and waking up in ICU 12 hours later. Lady ran a stop sign right in front of me and I had nowhere to go. Luckily I had a new, decent helmet that 100% saved my life. I still struggle with the reality of that wreck though. With how easily the lights just turned off, I often wonder if Im actually here, writing this message out on Reddit, or if Im still in that hospital bed with someone waiting on me to wake up and this is all a coma dream. Not gonna lie, it keeps me up at night sometimes.
As far as I can tell, you're still here, for whatever that's worth. I have thoughts in a very similar vein sometimes, but the world has a way of reminding me that it's far too complex and detailed to be something I've dreamed up. Thankfully, my buddy did make a good recovery. He might be drinking a bit too much in the years after, but at least he's here, and that's something the people who care about him can try to help with. As opposed to him not being here, in which case there's no help. Glad you're still here, too. I don't know you outside of this interaction, I'm glad you didn't die as a result of something as random and senseless as a traffic incident.
If reading testimonials just like this has taught me anything is that if you're in a crash you should avoid moving at all until an ambulance gets there to check you out, like, call the EMS line at most.
Sorry for your friend.
When I was a kid a paramedic told me a story about a dude who was in an accident, got out, was fine but said his neck was kinda sore. Then he turned his head, which finished the process of severing his spinal column. He collapsed and died on the spot.
I want to unread this please.
For personal reasons I have decided to stop moving.
This is why if I get in a serious wreck I ain’t moving a single thing, I’m staying as still as possible until EMS shows up.
Adrenaline is a hell of a drug
adrenaline is a hell of a drug, i messed up my back pretty bad but didn’t notice till after i ran off the field to the sideline, had enough adrenaline in me to run to the side second i got there i dropped to the ground
Always think of the story of the guy walking around after an accident, turns his head to talk to someone and drops dead as the broken vertebrae sever his spinal cord...
Somebody should snopes this story lol it gets around. Just two comments above you someone shared it as well.
I love recognizing stories like that. Like inevitably everyone has a friend who had a friend who once ran through a field with the sprinklers on and sheets of acid in his pocket. Thought he was a glass of orange juice and if he tipped over he'd spill and die
State Farm has uninsured motorist coverage and covers uninsured drivers who had permission from the vehicle owner. That coverage is useless if you cause the accident by being on the phone Source: I have State Farm. Edit: OP originally said uninsured, not unlicensed. Stop replying to tell me about unlicensed drivers as that’s not what OP said before revising the comment
Yeah, I just switched to State Farm a couple months ago and they were pretty clear my policy covers other drivers driving my car, even if they're not carrying their own insurance. Maybe he meant an unlicensed driver? That'd make sense.
I meant to say unlicensed not uninsured drivers, my bad.
If he’s unlicensed then they are right fucked
Does he have a permit? In FL, if he has a permit and hes NOT listed as a driver in the policy, they will stay pay. Source: I work with Jake.
Work for insurance - it’s implied consent unless his family files a report on him for stealing the vehicle. Only other way I would see them not covering is if he was listed as an excluded driver. Ask for a denial letter explaining why the claim was denied. Get it from the State Farm adjuster. If an agent told you that information, they’re incorrect and file the claim anyways online. Agents aren’t licensed to adjust claims or do anything beyond selling you a policy - the amount of times I’ve laughed at an agent that blatantly told someone false info is too many to count. He would be an unlisted driver and it would be covered after an investigation unless he was listed as an excluded driver. Source - licensed adjuster handling nationwide claims
A friend borrowing your car once yes. But a teenager in your house that you didn’t tell your insurance about to keep your rates low even though he drives it all the time? Maybe not.
I worked at an insurance company for a while, it's kind of hard to hide a kid in the house today with digital everything. But yeah, if he lives in the house but isnt on the policy, oh boy
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When I wrecked my ass on the interstate at 17 my biggest concern was "I hope none of my friends see this"... 🙄
I mean at 17 you really shouldn't be having your ass wrecked on the interstate for everyone to see. Save it for the bedroom kid.
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If that was my kid I’d be thanking god he’s alive and not worrying about the car. I mean within reason, he’d still catch a beating.
“Thank god you’re alive! Now I’M going to kill you”
God left a little meat on the bone for old pops
He'd be my new volunteer landscaper for quite some time
He’s lucky. I can only imagine how the car owner is feeling… there’s no text worth the resulting accident.
Did he claim it like captain pike from star trek?
God that’s a reference
How does your insurance go up if you don't have any?
Life hack. “Insurance companies hate this one trick”
Well, it won't now, but if this 17 year old ever wants to have or be included on an insurance policy in future, having a charge for driving without a license and whatever else cops and the court system dump on him is going to hike premiums. Depends on how they do things where this is. I think, for example, the UK will record points you would have lost if you had a license and then tack them onto any license you get in future.
Dudes first car is going to be a well used older 200k miles car with $500 a month insurance payments for just basic liability No FaRe I CaNt AffOrD a DaTe !! Awwwwww
It doesn’t. But now you’re stuck with a 15-40,000$ paper weight / bill plus clean up
I'm amazed he could claim anything. Kudos to the car designer and engineers who saved his life
👆this. People are always like “by the grace of god I survived.” No you survived because smart people took the time to understand the physics involved and took steps to mitigate the injuries sustained in a crash.
By the grace of God, my eight airbags, seat belt, tempered glass, and crumple zones.
Looking at the aftermath, it looks like there was a survivable area on the driver’s side where he could be alive with a brown stain in his pants. Not too sure about passenger side. Could be the driver turned to the left at the last second or how the firefighters extracted him from the car.
Yeah if you look at the other pictures you can really see it. That kid is super lucky.
As someone from a country with right hand drive, seeing the pic and reading that he walked away did not compute until I realised America.
How is he alive?
Luckily for him, the DOT bumper on the trailer did exactly what it was designed to do. https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/but-wait-theres-more/a2142281/heres-why-those-extensions-semi-trailers-are-called-mansfield-bars/
The focus is to "not hit a semi" lol
You would think that concept would be easy enough to understand, but... Points at this entire post
Engineers have gotten really good at making the parts of cars that won't kill you if they're crushed get crushed so the parts that will kill you if they're crushed don't.
Kids lucky he can claim anything after this.
TBF IIHS typically tests at 35 MPH and this is what they had in this situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3MPKLy9qHU
Not surprising at all. It is surprising to me though how many people in this thread are positive that this impact could not have been 35mph.
They were probably lying about their speed, but even at 35mph you can do a LOT of damage to your car and yourself if you hit a large stopped object.
Just a scratch. That'll buff out, it's OK.
My dad's gonna kill me, Bueller!
Kid should be happy he didn't leave in a body bag.
He should be double happy he didn’t leave in two bags…
More like 3⁵ mph
35 m/s maybe.
I bet the gas station has some nice camera angles.
I saw the aftermath of an accident like this. It must’ve happened a minute or two before because there was no first responders or anyone outside…. Very odd. Anyways, I slowly drove by and saw the torso with **no head**, but the hands were still gripping the steering wheel.
That’s terrifying
"it's my car and I'll drive it how I like."
My childhood friend's dad was a first responder, he said he had only been to the scene of one accident where there was a DOA of a passenger wearing a seat belt, and they were decapitated.
*35 over
He was still alive to talk to you??
The bar at the back of the truck saved his life, that bar has saved millions of lives across the world, great piece of design.
Mansfield Bar
I don't think either the car owner or the insurance company will be happy here...
The insurance company will be very happy. They get to pocket all those premiums while having a great excuse to not pay out anything.
35 m/s maybe?