Annotated Bibliography
Car Accident TBI. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2015, from
http://www.traumaticbraininjury.com/understanding-tbi/car-accident-tbi/
A traumatic/fatal injury occurs as a result of any force that penetrates/fractures the skull during a car accident or any other event that creates force against the skull. The skull can be greatly damaged during a car accident due to the brain colliding against the skull, causing a bruise (AKA contusion) and may cause internal bleeding (brain hemorrhage). Blunt trauma is a more serious injury, where the skull hits a hard object. TBI or spinal cord injury can cause changes to someone’s way of life if it is very serious. “Crash worthiness” is the test cars go through to see how much force they can absorb from an accident, protecting the passengers, and is an important factor to consider when in a lawsuit concerning a car accident/ TBI;s could also be caused by an automotive defect; such as roll overs, weak roofs, sudden acceleration etc. When one suffers a car accident, it is best to contact an attorney who is specialized in car accidents and could help you get the compensation for the damages you have received due to irresponsible drivers.
Wiles, G. (2014, February 9). The Anatomy of a Car Crash and The Injuries that Result. | Patch. Retrieved October 10, 2015, from
http://patch.com/pennsylvania/uppermacungie/the-anatomy-of-a-car-crash-and-the-injuries-that-result
Car crash can be separated into three parts: vehicle impact, body impact, organ impact. Car crash starts with car hitting another car or an object, this is the vehicle impact. Damage to the windshield, steering wheel dashboard, is usually when body impact happens. This causes damage to skull, pelvis, sternum (bone in between the ribs in front of the heart), knees, etc. At the same time as body impact, organ impact happens, like brain, heart, intestine, spleen etc hitting against body structures (bones). This causes bruising, inner bleeding, worst case, fracturing of bones. Windshield impact causes damage such as TBI, soft tissue neck injuries, flail chest, larynx tracheal injuries, facial bone fractures, broken nose, etc. Impact against the dashboard usually causes, knee injuries, femur, hip or pelvis injuries, head face injuries and cervical spine/neck injuries. T-bone crashes or lateral impact crash happen to the side of the passenger or the driver’s side and will cause doors, windows, arm rests to intrude into the occupant’s space, causing injuries. These crashes usually cause cervical spine injury, chest, pelvis, abdomen general area to the side of the crash. Rear-end crashes usually happen when the car is stationary and is hit from behind. The injuries are caused from the occupant touching the interior of the car, caused by the torso and seat launching forward then back. They cause lower/mid back injuries and wrist injuries (from holding onto the steering wheel). Car crashes can be avoided if people follow proper road rules. If you were in a car accident, it is highly recommended to consult a specialized lawyer in taking care of car crashes and that kind of stuff.
The Physics in Car Collisions. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2015,
from http://phys420.phas.ubc.ca/p420_96/danny/danweb.htm
A car crashes use many parts of basic physics. All three Newton’s laws of motion are included in this list of equations used in the calculations of car crashes. There also exists static and kinetic frictional forces. Another two equations are mentioned, however they are momentum and collisions, part of “Gr.12” physics. The biggest problem in a car crash is the acceleration the passenger experiences. The average human can experience an acceleration of 20g without injury. there are many ways that people are trying to design cars recently in order for a seat belted passenger to hit a solid barrier at 50km/h and survive. They include things in order to preventthe engine block from reversing into the passenger, parts of the car to collapse instead of the steering wheel backing into the passenger. Besides that, there are regulations set by the government that say the car doors should not open, the windshield should stay in place and that nothing should intrude the passenger compartment at 50km/h. 59% of injury producing accidents are front end collisions, therefore there would be a major effect to design cars that crumple uniformly at the front or end so they would absorb a large amount of force and decrease the amount of damage that goes to the passenger during car crashes.
Newton's Law of Inertia - The Car and The Wall. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2015,
from http://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/newtlaws/cci.cfm
The first law, the law of inertia is one of the biggest reason that these accidents happen. This is because an object’s tendency to stay in motion, or stay at rest and continue forward at a constant speed. If the passenger is strapped into the car, then it is connected with it and will decelerate and accelerate with the car. If the passenger is not wearing a seat welt, they would not share the same state of motion as the car and would fly out at the moment of impact with a wall or another vehicle, as they would be maintaining their own state of motion, and not the car’s. If the car were to stop and the passenger was not wearing a seat melt, then the passenger would fly out of the windshield, and stay in motion and proceed to become a projectile.
Bruni, D., Dick, G., Speijer, J., & Stewart, C. (2012). Physics 12. Toronto, Ont.: Nelson Education.
Newton’s first law of motion, “If the external net force on an object is zero, the object will remain at rest or continue to move at a constant velocity.” Within the first law is the concept of inertia. Inertia is the property of matter that causes an object to resist any changes in motion. This means that an object at rest will stay at rest unless a net force acts on it. Objects with more mass have more inertia than objects with a smaller mass. The second law of motion, “If the net external force on an object is not zero, the object will accelerate in the direction of the net force. The magnitude of the acceleration is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force and inversely proportional to the object’s mass.” It contains the formula, F = ma. This indicates that the acceleration of an object, A, is always parallel to the net force, F, acting on the object. However, since acceleration and velocity might be in different directions, velocity and net force do not need to be in the same direction. For example, a passenger can be moving forward in a car while applying the brakes. However, the car and the passenger are still moving forward, but the passenger is accelerating backward. The third law of motion states, “For every action force, there exists a simultaneous reaction force that is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.” For example, a passenger slamming into the car means, the car will “hit” the passenger back with the same force. Or, a car hitting a wall will receive an equal reaction force.
Miller, T. M. (2012, Febuary 22). Understanding Car Crashes-Newton’s First Law
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b-Mogqy1h4
The basic laws of physics can make a huge difference between a fatal and light car accident. The insurance institute for highway safety's vehicle research centre has research engineers test crash performance for vehicles by running tests on numerous cars. It is a practical application laboratory that tests for car crashes and analyze these crashes so they can show the laws that govern the physics of car crashes. Inertia causes objects at rest to want to remain at rest, which shows why a crash dummy falls off a car once it accelerates and moves forward. Another example is of a car and the passenger, moving at the same speed. If the car is to stop abruptly, the passenger inside would continue moving forward and crash into the dashboard of the car. The front of the car crumples, cushioning the crash, however the passenger inside would still slam forward and into the car. A body of motion travels at the same speed, and remains travelling at that speed and direction until they are acted upon by an outside force. Inertia is why seatbelts are important. When wearing a seatbelt, the occupant would travel at the same speed even when the car slows down, which prevents the passenger from crashing into the windshield of the car.
Hyneman, J. (Director). (2008). Mythbusters [Motion picture]. Discovery Channel.
Mythbusters are testing out physics third law with 2 cars of the same length and weight. First, they crash two similar cars at different speeds against a wall. The one at a higher speed was more crumpled than the car at the slower speed. The second and final experiment was one with a head on collision. They took 2 similar cars, and smashed them together at the same speed as the earlier slower speed. The result of the two cars showed that the damage factor was the same as the time they smashed the car into a wall. It was confirmed that Newton’s third law, that every action force has an equal reaction force was indeed correct with this practical test.