Originally posted by red99sesport:
There is no cause for celebration. The SUV comment is as simple as this: F=MA. In physics they teach you that force equals mass times acceleration. A 5000 lb Tahoe accelerating at 1 foot per second will hit a kid with 5000 foot pounds of force. A smaller vehicle, say a corolla that weighs 2500 lb accelerating at the same 1 foot per second will only hit the kid with 2500 foot pounds of force.



Oh, don't go there, because then I/someone would need to actually try to understand and interpret what you mean by 'accelerating at 1 foot per second' and 'foot pounds of force'. The plain and simple fact remains that regardless of the different amounts of kinetic energy (up to ~3x) at a given speed between a large SUV (which this was not) and a small car, extreme injury will occur to a pedestrian if struck -- a 150lb body's change in momentum when struck by either is huge compared to the vehicle's. A hit by an SUV may just mean you spend 15 days in a coma rather than 13, and learn to walk again after 7 months instead of 6.

What is of issue here is not that it was an SUV, nor is the fact she was driving an SUV a subject of amusement or a cause for implication of the type of vehicle. The real issue is a cancerous old hag would have done the same damage were she piloting a rattly old Civic.

B. Riley Melbourne, FL '01 Camry LE V6/5-spd Was: '00 Black/Tan SVT Contour #560 - Sold 3/26/03 Before that: '95 Champ/Blue Contour GL V6 ATX