News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Someone in New York is pulling emergency brakes, destroying subway commute. Parent comment

Re:Someone in New York is pulling emergency brakes, destroyi... by nexuist on Thursday May 23, 2019 @03:25AM (#19989351)
You're correct, on any vehicle involved in an accident you're more likely to survive with your back facing momentum.

This was scientifically proven through the work done by John Stapp[1], who attached himself to a rocket sled facing both directions and at one point became "the fastest man on earth" by breaking the land speed record at 632 mph and sustaining 46.2 g's.

His research is the reason why most military transport planes have seats facing backwards or sideways.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stapp

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Someone in New York is pulling emergency brakes, destroyi... by dsfyu404ed on Thursday May 23, 2019 @08:22AM (#19990985)
IIRC it was more like 120g's (which caused temporary blindness)

http://www.ejectionsite.com/stapp.htm

The takeaway should be "make sure you can't hit anything". Sitting with your back to the stop often helps you not go flying and hit anything when no proper tie downs are available but it's just a rule of thumb. If you have even just a lap belt your going to be better off facing forward in the event of a crash because of how the human neck works.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Someone in New York is pulling emergency brakes, destroyi... by mcv on Thursday May 23, 2019 @03:46AM (#19989463)
It's also how the cabin crew sits in a plane during take-off and landing. Passengers sit facing forward, but the crew sits facing backwards.
[ Parent | on HN ]