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Impact Timeline: 55 MPH in 7/10 of a Second
It takes 7/10ths of a second to kill a person in an automobile accident. Studies at Yale and Cornell Universities provided a dramatic split second chronology of what happens when a car rams into a tree at 55 miles per hour.
At 1/10th of a second:
The front bumper and grillwork collapse.
At 2/10ths of a second:
The hood crumbles, rises, smashes into the windshield, grillwork disintegrates.
At 3/10ths of a second:
The driver is sprung upright from his/her seat, his/her broken knees are pressed into the dashboard, the steering wheel bends under
his/her grip.
At 4/10ths of a second:
The front of his/her car is destroyed and dead still, but the rear end is still plunging forward at 55 MPH. The half-ton motor crunches into the tree.
At 5/10ths of a second:
The driver's fear frozen hands bend the steering column into an almost vertice position and he/she is impaled on the steering wheel shaft. Jagged steel punctures his/her lungs and arteries.
At 6/10ths of a second:
The impact rips the shoes off his/her feet. The chasis bends in the middle and the driver's head is slammed into the windshield. The car's rear end begins its downward fall as its spinning wheels churn into the ground.
At 7/10ths of a second:
The entire body of the car is twisted grotequely out of shape. In one final agonizing convulsion, the front seat rams forward pinning the driver against the steering staft. Blood spurts from his/her mouth. Shock has frozen his/her heart.
The difference between death and arriving at your destination safely is a simple matter of thinking about the consequenses. recklessness is foolish. Drive carefully and live.
50% of all fatal accidents are alcohol related. A couple of beers or a couple of cocktails may be enough to ut you into the danger zone. Drive only when you are completely sober and observe & obey the rules of the road.
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