Re:Something Changed at Tesla
by dragonwriter on Wednesday November 27, 2019 @06:09PM
(#21653098)
> And if any car - even this one - hits someone at 5 mph, it's not going to do that much damage.
About 2% of auto or light truck vs. pedestrian collisions under 10mph produce severe injuries, and at all speeds light trucks are more dangerous than autos, so I think you are overgeneralizing here.
5mph != <10mph
> and at all speeds light trucks are more dangerous than autos,
Citation needed.
There's a huge difference between hitting a pedestrian with a small hatchback at city speeds (which, in my congested city, means between 15 and 25 kph) and hitting it with a vehicle like this.
why? the difference in mass between a small hatchback and a human is still an order of magnitude larger than the difference between the same car and a cybertruck. they are both so much heavier than the pedestrian that they should transfer about the same energy into the poor fellow.
Because when a hatchback hits you chances are that you’d get thrown on its hood or windscreen, while when a truck hits you chances are you’d be thrown behind its weels. The first scenario gives you bigger chances of survival as a pedestrian. It’s not a question about mass, it’s about the shape of the car. Of course, this whole scenario applies to speeds generally met in cities/towns (maximum 30-40 kph).
Re:Something Changed at Tesla
by imtringued on Thursday November 28, 2019 @07:12AM
(#21656657)
There is a big difference between someone rolling over the hood of your sedan and hitting them with a huge "wall" of a pickup truck.
Speed is what kills, not a slightly harder body.
Even the lightest car has enough mass that it's going to really hurt pedestrians if it hits one at speed.
And if any car - even this one - hits someone at 5 mph, it's not going to do that much damage.