I am posting this HOPING that it's not going to create controversy or end up in a locked thread etc. This is about his car, nothing, really, about the man, the case, the event.
I am looking at the news today and seeing pictures of the wreck (and I'll post at bottom of this), I was shocked to see the 'minimal' damage of his C8 after hitting another car at a, reported, 156mph.
There's deformation of the a pillar from the look of it, that's a substantial hit... Looks like most of the force was deflected though
He hit a RAV4 which seems to be sensitive to catching fire and the fuel tank exploding. I'd guess the C8 went under the RAV4, punched the tank, and all hell broke loose.
Also, berkeley him with a cactus sideways. I've almost been killed twice by two different drunk drivers.
Apexcarver said:There's deformation of the a pillar from the look of it, that's a substantial hit... Looks like most of the force was deflected though
I did not notice the A pillar, I see, now, that there looks like some damage down low
Without directly mentioning it, I don't think there will be any debate whatsoever with regards to the actions that led to the state of the vehicle.
I don't know who that is or what happened but that's an insanely little amount of visible damage for a 156mph wreck.
156 mph. But was he doing that when he HIT? Those cars can stop very quickly, even a bit of braking will reduce that number massively.
Either way, the crash worthiness of modern cars is pretty insane sometimes.
Also sad that in many cases like this, the drunk guy survives with little injury. I am sure most of this is likely the result of them generally taking a straight front hit but is also likely helped by the fact that they do not tense up or react to the collision (reactions too slow).
A straight rear hit should be a pretty safe (even safer) angle also, but I suspect the fire was the main issue there.
In reply to hybridmomentspass :
Also, being Vegas this time of year, with that questionable wrap and wheel selection, is there going to be a SEMA booth without it's C8 now?
In reply to aircooled :
Airbags went off at 127 MpH
The first of many engine donors.
And with the engine in the back more of them will survive.
In reply to Toyman01 + Sized and :
Someone is going to have a bonkers MR-S project started by Christmas.
Cooter said:In reply to aircooled :
Airbags went off at 127 MpH
Ah, someone has the CDR file, would be interesting to look at.
CDR file?
hybridmomentspass said:CDR file?
Cockpit Data Recorder
Ah, thank you sir!
JThw8 said:hybridmomentspass said:CDR file?
Cockpit Data Recorder
Soon to be "Exhibit A" in both the civil and the criminal trials.
In reply to slefain :
Exhibit B, photos of the deceased are always exhibit A due to the weight that they carry and impact they make with jurors. They're often blocked by the defense, by the prosecution still will mention that there was a notion to block them made by the defense that was granted due to the severity of how gruesome they were.
It really is astounding how well that car held up at "only" 127 mph. Credit to the engineers. The best thing about this is that Ruggs will live to face the consequences of what he's done. And maybe it'll serve as a wakeup call for other young guys who think they can do no wrong, and that's not limited to professional athletes.
Modern cars are incredible. One on hand, that's not a ton of damage for what was likely a 70+mph collision . On the other hand, do we really need vehicles that can do 200mph on public roads in the hands of anybody with $1k/mo? Both are incredible feats, but I'm not sure that we need the second one. This thing is internet connected and GPS located thanks to OnStar. Conceptually, it doesn't seem too difficult to remotely "unlock" a modern vehicles top speed/performance only for predetermined locations like race tracks, and have it be more pedestrian in other places based on it's location. With great power comes great responsibility and all.
Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:And maybe it'll serve as a wakeup call for other young guys who think they can do no wrong, and that's not limited to professional athletes.
Doubtful. Young, full of testosterone and feeling invincible after being valued by a pro sports team for millions of dollars means wakeup calls are years away.
News said he was doing 156mph two seconds prior to the crash? Talk about a fast stop. It's not like he was in the desert on open rural roads - he was down the strip?
I don't know his exact path, but it was near the intersection os Spring Valley pkwy and Rainbow Blvd. Here's the veiw down Rainbow from that intersection. It's 6+ lanes wide, flat, and super long/straight with a 45mph speed limit:
It certainly is a very impressive outcome for the C8 and its occupants, but I'm also going to wildly speculate that there are some significant factors working in its favor too.
The 30mph crash test we're used to seeing is into an unyielding wall, which actually simulates a head-on crash with the same car also going 30mph, or a 60mph closing speed. Meaning when the frame of reference is changed to make it running into a stopped car, the moving car would be going 60mph. So this is like a <65mph 'crash test' with the brakes also likely continuing to absorb some of the energy after impact as the frame of reference itself is moving 60mph as well. Which is part of what causes the cars to separate after impact. And it should come as no surprise that a car structure designed to be raced at up to 200mph is probably going to be designed for better survivability in such high speed impacts.
On top of that, there is the problem of misaligned crash structures. Since crashes are all about energy dissipation, lifting the back half of a car and the friction of sliding under it would dissipate some significant energy too. But more importantly, when the structures stop deflecting and really engage each other, I'm guessing it's largely one designed to take the hit on the C8 (nose box) vs one not designed to take the hit on the RAV4 (rear subframe)... So more of the energy was also being probably being absorbed by the RAV4 structure being defomred in undesigned for ways.
When I first saw the RAV4 my mind tried to tell me it was a Tesla Model Y because of the dramatic roof curvature. If that were the case, it would also have fared shockingly well, despite the rear wheels having moved forward. Then I noticed the rear window where the bumper should be and my brain internalized how that was a result of the rear subframe movement and taking the floorpan with it.
The view on the flatbed also doesn't show the worst of the C8... I looks like the passenger side may have taken the worse of it. Which might also have to do with his passenger sustaining worse injuries.
In reply to Driven5 :
I agree about the photos of his victim's car. I still see a Prius in the roof curvature. I can't make a RAV4 out of the wreckage. I am sure designers can't be expecting a 127 m.ph. doorwedge driving the rear subframe up and into the passenger compartment, but I still want to know how she was trapped in the vehicle while it burned. Did all the doors jam due to deformation, or was it just the safety belts trapping her, as I am sure the hit was severe enough to trigger the tensioner locks, and then the seat would have been forced up against the belts...
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