What a Black Box Data Dump Looks Like 643
An anonymous reader writes "Massachusetts Lt. Governor Tim Murray recently crashed his Ford Crown Victoria while reportedly traveling 108 mph. The car was pretty much shredded, but Murray walked away without major injuries. According to data from the car's black box, Murray and the Crown Vic experienced the equivalent of 40 gravities during the crash. The data contradicts the story he gave police. Maybe we should strap black boxes to all our politicians."
Maybe we should... (Score:4, Funny)
"... Maybe we should strap black boxes to all our politicians."
Don't be foolish, they would explode from all the weaving, diving, bobbing, feints, corrections, double-backs and plowing through verbal feces (the black boxes, not the politicians.
I have a better idea... (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe we should strap black boxes to all our politicians.
Explosives would be far more beneficial to society in general...
Re:Advice (Score:5, Funny)
So, the first thing you should do after a car accident is to find and destroy its black box, so your insurance company would have no way to avoid paying the, what, insurance?
"The most interesting thing about the damage your vehicle suffered, is that the passenger compartment is largely intact, except for this little plastic box in the back of the glove box, which appears to have suffered severe physical trama at the end of a tire iron. I don't think we're going to honor your policy, sir."
Re:blackboxes already in most 21st century vehicle (Score:4, Funny)
They will ask Walmart for video footage to identify who bumped into your car and drove away.
At least that's what the insurance told my wife once...
I need fore and aft GoPro cameras in my car - record my drives. What amazing things I could turn over to the CHP! The people passing on the shoulder, tailgating, yakking on phones. putting on make-up, shaving, picking noses...
Re:Advice (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Engineering (Score:2, Funny)
Any crash that can shred a Crown Victoria is likely to have been one hell of an impact. There's a reason nearly every police cruiser in North America was a Ford Crown Victoria for a long time - they're damn near indestructible. A friend of mine had one from when he was in high-school through about 10 years, and over 30 other people's cars destroying themselves against his car. (usually while it was parked, or stopped at a red light - his car was some kind of drunken idiot magnet or something.) The worse damage he ever had was a broken tail light, and some scratches in the paint. Most of the cars that hit his were write-offs. Any collision that can do what that picture shows to that car would have vaporized a Neon.
Re:Does the data reflect tires slipping on ice? (Score:4, Funny)
Again, wrong. I've seen cases where someone actually survived an accident with little injury from *not* wearing a seatbelt, where they'd have died if they didn't wear one. In the case I'm thinking of, the accident popped the windshield out, and they got jettisoned before the passenger cabin had deformed significantly.
Also, it's not the speed you were going, but the rate at which you change velocity (and the duration of that, at any given rate), that causes the damage. Even crashing, a light post will be different from a brick wall, which will differ from a tree, which will differ from a 50' diameter marshmallow.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:blackboxes already in most 21st century vehicle (Score:5, Funny)
They will ask Walmart for video footage to identify who bumped into your car and drove away.
At least that's what the insurance told my wife once...
I need fore and aft GoPro cameras in my car - record my drives. What amazing things I could turn over to the CHP! The people passing on the shoulder, tailgating, yakking on phones. putting on make-up, shaving, picking noses...
STOP S.T.A.L.K.I.N.G MY WIFE!
Re:Advice (Score:5, Funny)
I usually wear my seatbelt, but when I don't, I'm intelligent enough to know I don't have it one without a stupid fucking alarm going off every 15 seconds making sure I'm aware.
... says dead_user.
(Sorry, I found it amusing.)
Seatbelts? (Score:5, Funny)
Sure, seatbelts and airbags save car drivers -- which is why I am against them.
As a pedestrian, cyclist and motorcyclist, I think that ANYTHING that increases car driver confidence is... bad.
Get rid of seatbelts. Get rid of airbags. Put broken glass into the dashboard.
That should act to straighten out a lot of car drivers!
And, who knows? Maybe the additional care will balance out the removal of protection; hey, we may even have a reduction of fatalities.
Smear a bit of blood on the glass in the factory, just to be sure to get the point across.