Car Crash

As much as we'd like for it not to be true, the fact remains that accidents are an inevitable part of everyday living. The more we depend on machines, the more are the chances of accidents. Automobiles that can go at seemingly unnatural speeds increase the chances of accidents. It is believed that ever since the invention of motorized vehicles, approximately 20 million people have died due to accidents caused by them.

Ever since the occurrence of car related accidents began to increase, the need for analyzing and mitigating the effects of a car accident on the human body has increasingly been felt. This is where car crash physics comes into the picture.

Car crash physics is the science or method of studying car crashes in a controlled matter. The purpose that this serves is obtaining information that enable car manufacturers to build cars that are safer for travel and provide the maximum protection to drivers in case of an accident. The idea is to study how the impact from a car collision is transferred to the passengers involved and how it can be reduced so that their lives can be saved.

Car crash physics thus relies a lot on test dummies. The conditions of different car crashes are replicated to produce enough authentic results in testing the physics involved in a car crash. This has helped researchers understand impact that the car and the human body face during a crash.

Road fatalities due to car crashes are increasing with each passing year despite huge efforts on the part of traffic control authorities. An alarming number of people, that is, 42,900 died in car crashes in 2003 and the number is only increasing with each passing year. The figure becomes more frightful when depicted like this: every 12 minutes in the US there is a car fatality, and every 14 seconds there is a person disabled in a motor accident.

The number of car crashes is comparatively very high in the senior population over 65 years of age. This bracket of people drives only 8% of the total road traffic, but one in four of them are likely to be involved in a car crash. Another high majority among car crash casualties are teenagers of the age group 15-20 years. An estimated 14% of all car crashes are among this age group.

Several factors may lead to car crashes. One of the greatest culprits is drunken and drugged driving. This is especially rampant among teenagers and causes no less than 16,000 deaths each year in the States alone. In current times, mobile phones are also becoming another major cause. Hand held devices are banned almost everywhere during driving. Even hands-free cell phones are dangerous as they divert the attention of the driver from the road. Eating or drinking while at the wheel, speaking to the passengers, listening to the radio or music while driving are all factors that make people involved in car crashes. Speeding and reckless driving also account for a major chunk of car crash casualties each year. Another significant cause is the pedestrians who do not obey traffic rules, especially while crossing roads.

There are several road safety measures that can be followed to prevent car crashes. It has been found that of all the fatal car crashes, almost half of the victims were not wearing their seatbelts. Traffic in US cities is quite congested at peak hours, but following simple road safety measures could help curb a vast number of road accidents. This even applies to pedestrians and cyclists on the road.

There are an estimated 6 million road accidents in the US each year. About half of this number - 3 million people - are injured in these accidents. The injuries may range from minor scrapes to permanent disabilities. The number of mortal casualties in car crashes each year is estimated to be well over 40,000.

Car crashes are caused due to a number of reasons. Disobedience of traffic safety rules are the prime cause. Jumping signals, reckless driving and speeding are among the major causes of car crashes. Car crashes due to drunken and drugged driving are becoming an issue of great concern throughout the world. Use of mobile phones while driving diverts the attention of the driver and may cause an accident. Laws have been passed in several states forbidding drinking and the use of cell phones during driving.

Car crashes have been categorized according to the part that collides. They are head-on collisions, rollovers, side collisions, rear end collisions, level crossing collisions, etc. Head-on collisions are the most lethal and are almost always fatal to the people in the front seats. Head-on collisions lead to a shattering of the front glass which may cause more serious injuries. A rollover or ""turning turtle"" occurs when a car at a high speed collides with something. Such accidents may cause permanent paralysis of the victims, if not death.

The seriousness of car accidents has prompted vehicle manufacturers to devise and use new safety measures in their cars. Proximity meters are used in some recent cars. These meters can detect the safe distance from a vehicle ahead of it and can automatically change the acceleration of the vehicle to maintain that distance. Another invention is the built-in breathalyzer or the sobriety meter which locks the car if it detects over 10% of alcohol in the breath of the driver. There are other simple measures such as automatically inflating air cushions and seatbelts.

There is always some legislation involved with a car crash. The severity of the legislation depends on the impact of the crash. People involved in a car crash are supposed to stall their vehicle and inform the police immediately. The party responsible for the crash may have to compensate the injured victim. Suits are filed if the case is too serious; otherwise a roadside settlement may be done with the traffic policeman as the intermediary.

Several measures are being adopted to prevent car crashes. Efforts are on to make advanced driving classes compulsory. Hoardings are put up at prominent places and gruesome car accident clips are shown on television to make people wary of rash driving. Severe penalties are imposed on people indulging in driving when drunk or under the influence of drugs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is constantly modifying these and other rules to reduce the number of car crashes in the country