[Diy_efi] Hydrogen Powered Vehicle - SUV safer?

[Don Sauman]

Guts
Just my twp penneth worth.
It seems to me, with 41 years driving experience and 34 in 4WDs, that 
most "accidents" are avoided by driving within your own and the vehicles 
limits. There will always be better or worse, safer or less safe, 
vehicles. And of course there will occasionally be times when you are 
caught up in someone elses mistake or even just chance.
I was extremely surprised one day when driving too quickly(my mistake) 
on a main highway I found myself about run into a column of traffic in 
my lane that had stopped suddenly. I braked heavily a swung into the 
empty on coming lane. My 1983 Jeep wagon then travelled sideway with 
wheels locked for about 20 feet. this almost 2 tonne vehicle did leaned 
but did not even look like rolling over. I don't nelieve from past 
experience I would have gotten away with that in a Landcruiser. This was 
all my fault for driving too quickly and not paying sufficient attention.
In Perth in Western Australia, and I am sure it is the same elsewhere, 
we are blessed with having to deal with trucks, semis, and road trains 
in the metropolitan area. Yet there are so few accidents between these 
vehicles and cars that I have yet to personally witnesss one. I know of 
them happening though.
The point is that you can drive whatever you like as long as you take 
due care; it is too easy to blame the vehicle And try to avoid telling 
other people what they should drive.
This SUV debate is a very emotional one but the negatives are not really 
supported by the evidence.
Now back to fuel injection.  :-)
Cheers
Don



Bevan Weiss wrote:

>This is the point that I'm worried about.
>New Zealand is starting to get more SUV's on the roads too, all of them
>decidely clean (ie no rectreational 4wd'ing).
>
>They just aren't designed for round town driving.  If you've ever been
>4wd'ing you know that the suspension is very 'bouncy'.  It's loose for a
>reason, to allow all four wheels to support the vehicle when one of them is
>at a much higher altidude than the other four, ie on uneven ground.  With a
>normal car with low suspension travel and tight springs that wheel would
>force another wheel off the ground.
>
>Now the problem...
>This loose suspension also means that SUV's aren't designed for sharp
>corners, because of the large transferance of weight to a loosely sprung
>wheel, this causes a diving of the chassis at that wheel and a larger
>overturning moment.
>
>Compounded with the fact that SUV's are naturally heavier, this means that
>they are much easier to roll over than a normal street car.  People don't
>seem to realise this and drive them just like normal cars.  Perhaps even
>taking more dangerous risks than they normally would, simply because they're
>up higher and feel safer.
>
>
>Now, when they do get involved in an accident, they weigh more than most
>cars out there, so more of their energy will be transferred to the other
>car.  Momentum must be conserved.  If the SUV is twice as heavy as the other
>car and both are going the same speed, then total momentum before (speed*2 -
>speed*1) must be equal to afterwards (speed'*3).  This results in the final
>speed being speed' = (speed*2 - speed*1)/3 = speed/3.
>The SUV has lost 2/3 of it's speed.  Ie if it was going 60km/h, it's now
>going 20km/h... A reduction of 40km/h.  Not very pleasant, but quite
>survivable.
>The other car is now going... 2/3*speed (so 40km/h) but it's doing that in
>the reverse direction.
>Ie it's had to change it's speed by 100km/h.  How many people do you think
>survive driving into brick walls going 100km/h?  After all it's the same
>100km/h deceleration required...
>
>It's quite unfair for an SUV driver to place other drivers at increased risk
>just because it makes them feel safer.
>
>That's just with plain solid body dynamics.  It gets even worse for the
>other car if you take into account deformable body dynamics and the varying
>chassis heights of the vehicles.  The SUV will roll forwards crushing down
>onto the front of the car whilst the rest of the SUV propels it up and over
>the car.  This results in the whole front of the car being crushed down and
>back.  It normally traps the drivers legs under the dash and/or crushes the
>roof (just behind A pillar) into the front seat passengers heads.
>
>What were the positives again??
>
>
>Bevan
>
>
>
>  
>
>>i think that people buy SUV's because they can, and because 
>>for them bigger is better. last time i was in US i have seen 
>>a pickup in the deck of which i could have easily u-turned my 
>>european hatchback. 
>>unfortunalty the SUVmania happened in europe too, and even 
>>Porsche now builts a SUV. enough said. It is common to see 
>>skinny little guys using 2000kg of metal to carry around 
>>their 50kg boney asses. 
>>typical scenario in some european cities is to buy a SUV to 
>>the wife so she can go shopping or collect the kids from 
>>school. all the offroad these vehicles get is the occasional 
>>curb-climbing. 
>>
>>i think that in the majority of cases, the SUV is the 
>>pinnacle of stupidity, an object without real purpose, apart 
>>the vanity of the owner rant over :-)
>>    
>>
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>


-- 
Don Sauman
Mob: 0413 746 695
Ph:  +61 8 9361 0337
Fax: +61 8 9361 0581
Email: donsauman at cythera.net




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