Ouch!

[RJ]

Interesting video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrZr-QZbfxo


FWIW. . .

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Russ,

Without a doubt, DRIVER DEAD!

Scary....

Nivk-

[Highway Yacht]

Now why couldn't they have crashed my old bus instead of that new bus. I would have been more than happy to have traded with them.

[tekebird]

wonder what speed that was at?

[Green-Hornet]

Hi Russ,

Without a doubt, DRIVER DEAD!

Scary....

Nivk-

Have to agree, but it looks like the passengers would mostly be OK. It held up pretty well I thought.

[belfert]

Is it okay that the driver dies while the passengers live?

I assume this was the required crash testing for a new model.  The feds require this for passenger buses.  Silver Eagle Mfg says they can avoid crash testing their passenger buses by using the exact same jigs used to build the original Eagle buses that were already crash tested.

[jackhartjr]

About ten years ago or so I inspected a company that had bought the site of a former Collision Test Center just west of San Berardino, CA.

They had a 400 foot track that lead to a cement wall that they did the front end crash tests on.  They had an old Olds 88 motor that they would dial in for the EXACT MPH they were doing the test at.  There were posts there for the dozens of cameras.
What I remember about that 10X102X2 cement wall that is was as smooth as a babys but, not a nick or scratch on it!  It was built that way.

At the 200 foot mark they had a place set up to do side, angle and read end tests. 
It had to be cool to see when it was running.
I still can't get over that smooth cement wall!
Jack

[HighTechRedneck]

What I remember about that 10X102X2 cement wall that is was as smooth as a babys but, not a nick or scratch on it!  It was built that way.

That must have been some special cement.  When a vehicle hits a bridge support or abuttment, it does leave a mark, sometimes knocks entire chunks out.

[jackhartjr]

Well, you know they did a mock up of a nuclear containment dome in the 70's and enacted an airplane hitting it at 400MPH.  I recall it lost about an inch and a half of the cemont.
Jack

[HighTechRedneck]

Yup, I remember a test that crashed a F-16 into a test structure built to the same specs as containment domes.  Then again they use a very high density concrete for those too.  If I recall correctly, the concrete in the domes is almost twice the density of 9 sack mix.  I would say there is a good chance that the vehicle crash test slab used a similar mix.

[Stan]

Just to relieve your anxiety on bridge abutments - They are alway built by the low bidder

[jackhartjr]

I remember reading about one that was supposed to be an airliner.  Didn't know about the F16.
Jack

[jackhartjr]

Stan...so was the shuttle(s). 
Jack

[HighTechRedneck]

Just to relieve your anxiety on bridge abutments - They are alway built by the low bidder

Thanks.  That makes me feel much better about it.    Weak porous concrete makes for a softer impact. 

[DrivingMissLazy]

Just to relieve your anxiety on bridge abutments - They are alway built by the low bidder

I am really curious as to what is not built by the low bidder?

Richard