Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/10/08/20-killed-in-stretch-limo-cras.html
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I asked a EMT pal why everyone died and they said that people always assume vehicle accents are crushing injuries. But with chopshop vehicles it’s like neatly hacksawing a can of food in half and then throwing it against a wall.
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jesus! the mental pictures of that shit…
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Not only is this the worst road accident in almost 10 years, it is the worst transportation accident (of any kind, including planes and trains) in 10 years.
Yeah, I assume that’s why the news outlets I’ve read haven’t had accident-scene photos. Just pics of an ambulance and the intersection.
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On the ABC news page there are a lot of comments assuming there must be some sort of foul play because how did everyone die?
Any motor vehicle accident involving a fatality has to be registered; there’s a nice book looking at all that data. One of the scarier graphs from that is looking at DRIVER (and I’m assuming in this case it would be the same or greater risk for other occupants of the limo) fatalities and speed; as change in speed goes towards 100 KPH (62 MPH) probability of driver fatality goes toward 1 logarhythmically. So going from around >60 mph to hitting almost immovable stationary object…
Doesn’t look good. Would be surprised anyone would walk away.
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This is extremely sad.
For those interested, this is the intersection: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.7003884,-74.3018766,18z
The speed limit going southwest on NY-30 at the junction of NY-30A is 50 mph (which is 80 km/h) and there is a “stop ahead” warning sign several yards before the actual stop sign.
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Well, the real issue is, Who wears seatbelts in a limo? It’s just not done. There’s an illusion of safety when riding in a limo. And it’s not “cool” to be strapped in and constrained when the whole purpose of the limo is “to party/celebrate.” (Not blaming the victims; I probably wouldnt be a seltbelt-wearing square in a limo either.)
When the limo instantly went from 40 MPH to 0 MPH, every unrestrained person in the limo became a projectile, so even if you survive the impact with the car, you had to survive the impact of the people crashing into you at 40MPH.
Even if they installed seatbelts for everyone, stretch limos are set up so most people’s seats are side-facing; you’d be impacting, and be impacted by, your neighbor in a crash (not to mention the torsional force on your spine and internal organs). Which is why, as far as I can tell from cursory research, they don’t even install seat belts in limos. They are inherently unsafe. The safety ethos seems to be: “just don’t crash.”
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Before modern safety features, car accidents above 25 mph were almost always fatal. There were often design features in the car that increased the danger of the occupants. When a vehicle that was designed for safety gets torn down and rebuilt with different geometries, all bets are off when it comes to occupant safety.
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This video illustrates your point - 2009 vs 1959. Speed estimates from Wired peg it at about 36mph - not sure why they don’t tell you the speed.
Safety glass was a huge boon as well.
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Yes, all the wire shots of accidents like this are completely unpublishable.
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Scariest thing in any movie ever. Still.
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I’ve always wondered why we don’t see more of the audible lines cut in the asphalt to produce a sound warning, particularly at a T or hidden intersection. They seem to show up in rural Ontario, but I don’t often see them elsewhere.
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In all seriousness, that’s actually a good thing. There’s already way too much ghoulish sensationalism attached to tragedies these days.
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Don’t fuck with Large Marge.
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One more thing many people fail to account for is (even with a seatbelt) just because your body stops moving doesn’t mean all your soft and squishy internal organs suddenly lose all inertia.
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I’ve seen that video many times before and it’s just fascinating every time. I know how easy it is to lament today’s cars that get ruined with a slight tap versus cars of old that were built like tanks but this video really illustrates the safety advantages built into modern cars.
The driver in the 2009 car maybe suffered a broken nose and at worst a broken leg. The cabin was almost completely intact. The driver of the Bel Air is almost certainly dead or at minimum severely injured.
That type of crash is especially brutal - much more so than a full head on collision because the energy from crash is so unevenly distributed and all right at the driver.
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50 mph speed limit posted right up to the point of a T-intersection is effing nuts.
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