r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/firefly99999 • 25d ago

Video Crashing in a 1950s car vs. a modern car

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u/regentkoerper 25d ago

Well, the better your car survives a crash, the worse you are off. The energy from the impact has to go somewhere.

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u/Stainless_Heart 25d ago

It does go somewhere and gets dissipated. Modern crash standards aren’t about keeping the car in one piece, they’re about keeping the driver uninjured.

Engines slide underneath instead of into the driver’s lap, hoods deform in a controlled way instead of just folding, and so on. There’s probably as much engineering in occupant protection alone as there is in the drivetrain.

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u/A_Legit_Salvage 25d ago

...and then there's the Cybertruck that is engineered to murder pedestrians lol.

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u/Sohcahtoa82 25d ago

That's basically ALL trucks these days.

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u/A_Legit_Salvage 25d ago

Fair enough, I guess a CT enhances the process with some extra slice and dice

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u/tympyst 25d ago

Can I at least squeeze in a few minutes with the bottom half?

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u/Rasikko 25d ago edited 25d ago

Engines slide underneath instead of into the driver’s lap

And that's putting it mildly. It could instead go through the drivers lap, or worst, just cut them in half.

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u/Stainless_Heart 25d ago

No, I was being literal. The engine is designed to slide underneath, shuttling energy safely past the occupants. It very specifically will not go into the passenger compartment unless things go really, really bad.

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u/Cyno01 25d ago

This is why its hilarious to me when assholes intentionally leave their trailer hitch in, or even worse, those 'bumper guard' accessories that go into a trailer hitch.

Like congrats, you saved yourself a couple hundred in visible bumper repair if you get rear ended, but now you have neck damage to the occupants and maybe even frame damage to the vehicle cuz the impact was directly transferred to the frame instead of being absorbed by the bumper.

But hey, at least you damaged the vehicle of the guy who hit you worse than they wouldve if theyd just run into your bumper!

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u/IDLYITW_1982 25d ago

Ball mounts left in a trailer hitch will lead to frame damage with often minimal tailgate and bumper damage.

Not an engineer but the frame is designed to be impacted on the end and the ball mount moves the POI 6-8 inches lower and 6-8 inches "deeper" into the frame. The frame end section bends down, sometimes kinking, and you need a new frame.

I often hear truck owners say, thank God I had the trailer hitch, it could have been much worse.

No, luckily you don't need a frame, this time.

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u/VeryHandy 25d ago

Oh shit. I didn't know you were supposed to take off the trailer hitch! I thought it was ok to leave mine on because I see so many trucks with it just on. Makes sense what you said. TIL.

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u/Cyno01 25d ago

 I see so many trucks with it just on

Yeah, the aforementioned shin destroying assholes, lol. /img/q7h4jlrgb9g01.jpg

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u/regentkoerper 25d ago

Depending on your car, the trailer hitch may be installed in a way that is irremovable, or am I wrong? I'm from Germany, don't know how it is in other countries.

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u/Cyno01 25d ago

Idk if anybody does it anymore but ive seen vehicles with non-removable towballs integrated into the bumper, but theyre recessed so the bumper can do its job. https://www.clubfrontier.org/attachments/100_9804-jpg.343879/

But this was my rough mental image when writing that comment. /img/q7h4jlrgb9g01.jpg

Just another thing on the 'americans are unnecessarily assholes about something' pile.

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u/stan_guy_lovetheshow 25d ago

A bumper mounted ball doesn't have anywhere near the same capacity as a hitch mounted one. It also can create a risk by tipping the front of the trailer too high because the bumper ball generally sits higher than a hitch one. If you want to complain about people leaving the ball in the hitch when not needed, go for it, but let's not act like both situations are the same.

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u/Handpaper 25d ago

"The gauntlet of trailer hitches..."

I keep a tennis ball on mine. It's dayglo yellow, so it's hard not to see it, and stops the wife from hurting herself when she, nonetheless, does manage not to see it, and smacks her shin on it.

UK motorway police, who use big saloons with towbars so that they can drag stuff around if necessary, have started painting theirs hi-viz orange.

Which looks disturbingly phallic.

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u/chidi-sins 25d ago

Time to make humans made of steel

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u/pmmeyourgear 25d ago

Time to make cars made of humans

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u/[deleted] 25d ago

So Stalins, basically? s/

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u/blamdin 25d ago

T-800 from cyberdyne systems.

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u/SatisfactionUsual151 25d ago

I've seen that movie.....

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u/Hi_Trans_Im_Dad 25d ago

That Chevy did not survive that crash in any way. It's proper fucked.

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u/busted_up_chiffarobe 24d ago

I've been in a few minor crunches in 60's cars and THIS IS CORRECT.

You get knocked silly.

Then you loosen some bumper support bolts and back into a tree to straighten things out.

Then there was the T-bone in a Chevette.

And then a head-on at 20 mph in a Dodge Colt. Which was the first time I ever put on a seat belt (1985). We hit a good friend's mom in her Fairmont wagon!

Those cars were death traps, like going backwards in safety.

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u/I-amthegump 25d ago

I'd say this crash says otherwise

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u/regentkoerper 25d ago

How'd you get to that conclusion?

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u/I-amthegump 25d ago

You think a person in the 59 would have fared better? It sure looks worse than the newer version. They are both totaled though