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Old 04-01-2010, 06:11 AM
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glenc (Glen)
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Terranora
Posts: 4,406
The force in a crash depends on the mass of the objects involved, the speed of the objects involved and the time it takes to stop.

If you hit a large tree the mass includes the earth the tree is growing in. The tree does has no crumple zones so the time it takes to stop is very small and the force is very big. Both mass and time are against you, especially if you hit the tree side on.

If you hit a large loaded truck mass and time are also against you because most trucks have bull bars not crumple zones and the trucks are heavy.
Also the trucks are often traveling faster than the cars.

At car races like Bathurst the cars have similar masses and are mostly traveling at similar speeds in the same direction, hopefully. There are also barriers on the edge of the road to increase crash times and reduce forces.

Large trees near the road are dangerous and bull bars are too because they don't "give", and they increase the force in a crash.
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