November 19, 2007: Bear vs. Truck

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by glatt

The ironic thing about that "road armor" is that the stronger it is, the more likely you are to die in an accident, because you are eliminating the crumple zones that absorb all that kinetic energy. It's also irresponsible because you endanger the other vehicles on the road, taking away the crumple zones that would make an accident less dangerous for them. But hey, if you hit a pedestrian, your grill won't break. It's all worth it.

Hey good points, I never considered the pedestrian angle, and it would be less likely that I would get any blood on my paint. I doubt your assertion that it would be more unsafe for me, in fact if I hit you with a tank because you pull out in front of me and you die, then you should think twice about pulling out in front of my tank. Big trucks hit small cars all the time. Not my problem. To bad for you. Thanks for your comments anyway.

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

I doubt your assertion that it would be more unsafe for me, in fact if I hit you with a tank because you pull out in front of me and you die, then you should think twice about pulling out in front of my tank.

I've a strong suspicion that your tongue may be in your cheek for most of your post, but this part conflates two points.
You need crumple zones if you hit an object that is immovable or at least very much larger than yours - say, a semi trailer. Without them the deceleration is passed on to the passengers at full intensity. Mind you, driving something like what you posted here ... there aren't gonna be too many things that are immovable.

That crash bar is good for protecting the vehicle when it hits very large animals: moose, deer, bears. It may leave you (the human cargo) vulnerable in sudden-stop collisions. You'd want to weigh up the likelihood of each happening, allow for gas consumption, do the cost-benefit analysis, and make your decision. Unless very large animals are common where you frequently drive, I don't think it would be justified. Seems like you thunk this all through already though.
With what was shown here rollover would be a bigger worry for me. Or running over your kids in the driveway because you couldn't see them.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

I've a strong suspicion that your tongue may be in your cheek for most of your post, but this part conflates two points.

:

[glatt]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

I doubt your assertion that it would be more unsafe for me

You are confusing mass with rigidity. Sure, the "armor" provides a few hundred pounds of mass, but that is insignificant compared to the weight of the entire truck. You could get the same addition of mass by throwing a few bags of sand in the bed. What the "armor" really does is add rigidity. It keeps the crumple zones from crumpling. Highway fatalities have come down steadily over the decades even while the number of cars on the road have increased. This is due in large part to crumple zones in vehicles. This "armor" defeats that.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by glatt

You are confusing mass with rigidity. Sure, the "armor" provides a few hundred pounds of mass, but that is insignificant compared to the weight of the entire truck. You could get the same addition of mass by throwing a few bags of sand in the bed. What the "armor" really does is add rigidity. It keeps the crumple zones from crumpling. Highway fatalities have come down steadily over the decades even while the number of cars on the road have increased. This is due in large part to crumple zones in vehicles. This "armor" defeats that.

The other thing that has happened on newer trucks is that they are droping the front suspension, which pisses me off because it really changes the way they look, but it does make it safer for other drivers. Not that I really care much about the other guy...

[ZenGum]

Doesn't the new model of one of the really big urban SUV soccer-mom-mobiles (maybe Ford Explorer??) have a special bar at the front to stop smaller cars from disappearing under it in collisions? Its a start.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Doesn't the new model of one of the really big urban SUV soccer-mom-mobiles (maybe Ford Explorer??) have a special bar at the front to stop smaller cars from disappearing under it in collisions? Its a start.

Wouldn't be the Explorer, to small, might be the Expedition. They stopped making the Excursion, and it was as big if not bigger than the Suburban.