Hey there! Today we're going to be taking a serious issue, road accidents . Let's jump right into the article. Alcohol is a major contributor to traffic accidents involving pedestrians. In the United States, nearly half of the crashes where a pedestrian was kil 50led involved alcohol impairment of either the driver or pedestrian, contributing to the over 270,000 pedestrians around the world that are killed in traffic accidents each year. One way to reduce deaths is by making the streets safer. To do this, city engineers need to know the speed at which an impact from a vehicle could become fatal.
Then, they can establish safe speed limits. There's clearly a big difference between getting hit by a car rolling forward at 5 mph and getting hit by a bus on the highway. That's because the weight and speed of the vehicle determines how much energy is transferred to the pedestrian., So let’s dive into this a bit more, and don’t forget to wear your seatbelt. Huh? Where have I heard that before? Using data from past accidents, researchers have worked to identify safe speeds.
In a 2011 report by the American Automobile Association's Foundation for Public Safely, they determined the impact speed that a pedestrian would likely suffer severe injuries and the speed that would likely be fatal. They found that a car only needs to be going 31 mph for a pedestrian to have a 50 percent chance of sustaining a severe injury and 46 mph for a 90 percent chance.
For a hit to be fatal, vehicles only need to be traveling slightly faster. At 42 mph, there is a 50 percent chance of a pedestrian being killed by the impact and a 90 percent chance at 58 mph. The pedestrian’s age also plays a big factor in the seriousness of their injuries. For example, a 70-year-old hit by a car traveling at 25 mph has a similar chance of injury as a 30-year-old hit at 35 mph.
What body parts are struck and injured has to do with the mechanics of the impact. The collision can be broken into three phases, all of which are a chance for injury. They are the initial strike of the vehicle, the trajectory off of the vehicle, and landing on the ground., First, the pedestrian's legs are hit by the bumper and rapidly accelerate while their torso remains relatively still. This is why these impacts most often injure the lower extremities, often causing the pelvis, knee or fibula to break.
Asthe vehicle keeps moving forward, their body wraps around the bumper and hood until their head hits the vehicle. Which is where one of the most severe and second most common injuries occurs., Finally, depending on what the driver does, the pedestrian could be projected in front of the vehicle if the driver breaks, be vaulted over the roof if they don't, or be vaulted over the side if the driver turns. If the vehicle is tall and the bumper is higher than the pedestrian's center of gravity, they could be knocked down and run over.
Over the years, changes in vehicle design made by car manufacturers have led to less injuries to pedestrians. One study performed in France found that cars produced in the 90s caused less lesions and fractures compared to cars made in the 70s. They attributed this to the newer car's profile and windshield design that reduced the severity of the impact. Going forward, as we design cars of the future, we can hope manufacturers continue to keep public safety in mind and help to decrease the number of pedestrian fatalities.
So my question to you is, have you ever been in a car accident? If you're comfortable with sharing your story, let me know in the comment section below! If you wanna know more about what happens to your body inside of a car during a car crash, you should probably check out this video! People often slam into the steering wheel or front panel and experience chest and lower limb injuries, like broken ribs, or crushed legs. As always I suggest that be safe and secure!
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