Comment 107495

By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted January 04, 2015 at 13:26:04 in reply to Comment 107488

caused by a bullet fired from a gun

In 1987 the average weight of a new car was 3200lbs; in 2010 it was 4000lbs.

Just for fun here are some kinetic energy calculations done using Wolfram Alpha:

110kg bicycle (~250lb total weight) at 7 m/s (~ 25 km/h) = 2.7 kJ

44 gram (12 gauge) shotgun round at ~ 500 m/s = 5.5 kJ

1800kg vehicle at 14 m/s (~ 50 km/h) = 176 kJ

A moving vehicle has two orders of magnitude more energy than a bullet. That is spread out over the volume of the car, of course. However, in a direct collision, much force will be transmitted to the rider through the bike seat. Even allowing for losses in the crumpling of both vehicles and getting thrown into the air, the vehicle has SO much more kinetic energy to transfer, that it still leaves a lot of energy to do damage and impale.

So my most heartfelt empathy to the involved riders and the author. Doing everything by the book and still getting hit from behind is my worst nightmare. From the description, it sounds like it was almost or as bad as actually getting shot in the arse. Recover quickly! And we can all sleep easy knowing the driver is very likely already back on the road after having paid a small sum of money.

Comment edited by mikeonthemountain on 2015-01-04 13:44:53

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