Fatal crash in Avila Beach, CA - Page 2

wanderers · 08-10-2021, 09:15 AM

If the truck was traveling quite a bit faster than the Sprinter it would have had a lot more kinetic energy even if it had the same mass; if I recall my high school physics correctly. I've wondered about what that would do in a collision and this seems to show the results. It's why the driver at fault often goes unscathed while killing the innocent driver and passengers.

geoffff · 08-10-2021, 10:17 AM

absolute speed shouldn't matter. It's only relative speed that matters, and the force is equally applied to both objects

rburklin · 08-10-2021, 03:57 PM

One would wonder if an after market steel front bumper could have altered the tragic outcome.

1der · 08-10-2021, 08:46 PM

Very sad. The picture shows the driver door of the Sprinter removed/missing. The door frame appears to show "jaws of life" impressions.

While speed does not matter, mass would matter. A fully loaded Sprinter might be pushing 9,000 lbs. The pickup with no load would be around 6100 lbs. The front end of the Sprinter was the weakest section.

I would be interested in the actual speeds of the vehicles at impact.

Be careful.