R8 Crash

[caldy]

I think I'll stick to my RS4 - at least the engine may have stopped that crash barrier!!!!!

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=332375

[sonny]

WOW. what circuit was this on, does any one know?

Driver and passenger lucky to be alive!

[pippyrips]

Is it just me or does anyone else find the pics uncomfortable |& distasteful given the circumstances - you can see the guys spilt blood in and around the cockpit - poor sod.

Not aimed at you Caldy, more the guy who took and posted them in the first place.

[caldy]

As a young man, a long time ago, I was on the scene of a serious road crash in which 2 persons died and the scene is with me to this day. I find viewing pics such as these very offputting, but it serves notice that the laws of physics are cast in stone and no matter what or how you drive, accidents happen. It may slow me down just a little when the red mist descends.

The post was meant more to illustrate the vulnerability of a rear engined car in a frontal smash and how the front mounted motor in the RS4 may serve as some degree of protection.

[MilkybarKid]

I find viewing pics such as these very offputting, but it serves notice that the laws of physics are cast in stone and no matter what or how you drive, accidents happen. It may slow me down just a little when the red mist descends.

+1

[aidanjaye]

Accidents happen but feel why photo it - the guy lost his legs for f**k sake. Not nice. Agree with others - don't post stuff like this.

[don]

Looks like he was very unlucky, regardless of the crash, and a fault with the design of the guard rail. Guard rails are meant to absorb impact and keep the vehicle contained rather than slice it down the middle. As mentioned, maybe something to do with the rear engine. Very sad.

I agree the post can be offensive but then people don't have to look at it if they don't want to. Arguably it gives people a good reality check about their potential driving.

[grizz]

Shows how alloy shell takes the impact ... , This one of those freak accidents.. Very very unlucky...

[SR71]

I was pretty disappointed with the damage done to the A3 recently when it slid off the road into a curb....at about 5mph!

Its modern car design which I'm sure is leagues better than 20 years ago, but it will leave the car wrecked as a result!

Bearing in mind we have a young lady on list who has had a similar accident in a RS4, with similar consequences, maybe she should be the judge...

[PetrolDave]

Its modern car design which I'm sure is leagues better than 20 years ago, but it will leave the car wrecked as a result!

Modern car design is based on a hard "core" where the occupants sit surrounded by relatively soft crumple zones. In a front engine car the engine is usually designed to be manoeuvered underneath the floor pan to protect front occupants legs.

This has two benefits:

1) the G forces experienced by the occupants are much lower as much of the crash energy is absorbed by the crumple zone before the hard "core" finally had to come to a (now much less rapid) halt, so occupant deaths and injuries are greatly reduced from what they used to be.

2) the soft crumple zones can also be made more pedestrian friendly (this is more recent) to reduce third-party injuries too. An example s the new GTR having a bonnet that is forced upwards so that a pedestrians head won't hit the engine block through the bonnet.

Crashes are never great things to talk about, but a key part of driving is risk assessment and knowing what might happen is IMHO an essential part of that risk assessment. I've seen hundreds of crash dummies after concrete block tests and it really makes you think about the effect of street furniture, houses and lorries if you hit them.