Hit A Deer

[Lil4X]

Thank God you're OK, Sam! Running into a large animal on the highway is extremely dangerous and can result in severe injuries.

I've had some of the same concerns with the size and weight of the Elio. Driving back to Houston from New Orleans in a heavy storm late one night, I managed to scare myself rather badly. Rather than take my SUV, l'd driven my Civic on this businesses trip. . . and in the driving rain, I was having second thoughts about my safety.

About that time an 18-wheeler passed me at about 70 on the Interstate, and as I looked to my left, I could see my reflection in the truck's hubcap. That's when I got a flash of my own insignificance. . . and mortality.

The next week I bought a new SUV. No more driving the Interstate in a small car. At least not at night in bad weather. I could have been squashed like a bug.

But while no vehicle offers complete safety, size is usually helpful. But the Elio, being extremely light, should bounce rather than be crushed. The roll cage doesn't have to protect a very large cockpit, so it should be rigid enough to take a severe crash without deforming badly - again, thanks to the low overall weight of the vehicle, there's not that much energy to absorb or dissipate.

At this point I'm cautiously optimistic about the Elio's crashworthiness.

 

[D.D.Bwana]

Thank God you're OK, Sam! Running into a large animal on the highway is extremely dangerous and can result in severe injuries.

I've had some of the same concerns with the size and weight of the Elio. Driving back to Houston from New Orleans in a heavy storm late one night, I managed to scare myself rather badly. Rather than take my SUV, l'd driven my Civic on this businesses trip. . . and in the driving rain, I was having second thoughts about my safety.

About that time an 18-wheeler passed me at about 70 on the Interstate, and as I looked to my left, I could see my reflection in the truck's hubcap. That's when I got a flash of my own insignificance. . . and mortality.

The next week I bought a new SUV. No more driving the Interstate in a small car. At least not at night in bad weather. I could have been squashed like a bug.

But while no vehicle offers complete safety, size is usually helpful. But the Elio, being extremely light, should bounce rather than be crushed. The roll cage doesn't have to protect a very large cockpit, so it should be rigid enough to take a severe crash without deforming badly - again, thanks to the low overall weight of the vehicle, there's not that much energy to absorb or dissipate.

At this point I'm cautiously optimistic about the Elio's crashworthiness.

I keep hearing that size matters. Is it factual or urban legend?

 

[Grumpy Cat]

You could always install FLIR and avoid the deer.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Raytheon-Thermal-Eye-300D-FLIR-Infrared-Thermal-Imager-Camera-/271169265723

 

[RMClubfitter]

I keep hearing that size matters. Is it factual or urban legend?

If you cannot do Great Things, Do Small Things in a Great Way.

 

[UCF'73]

This morning running 65 going to work I hit a large deer dead center. I was in my wife's Cadillac Deville. Car is probably totalled. I usually drive a Honda Civic, but it needs a new radiator, which it will get tomorrow. I wonder if I would have been killed in the Civic. The Caddy's crumple stuff probably saved the day. Didn't slow me down and airbag didn't deploy. Thanful for that. Wasn't a safe place to stop so went for another mile. Later I got to thinking what might have happened if I had been in an Elio. I gotta say, I think it would have made for a very bad day. But who knows, if I had been in an Elio, the critter might have just bounded over me.

Glad you're ok. I don't know what kind of road it was, but on the winding, deer infested back roads of SC, even the speed limit of 55 is often too fast to allow a safe avoidance maneuver.

 

[Hog]

Up my way, a deer gets every car at least once. Sometimes its minor, sometimes its not. There is just nothing that a driver can do to avoid it, your time will come. Interesting point made about the bumpers, I hadn't even realized it, (good design I guess). Again shows the necessity of the "autocycle" category, since automobiles are REQUIRED to have a bumper system, even to the point of specifying the design, impact, height, pedestrian 'friendliness', and testing of the systems.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

Thank God you're OK, Sam! Running into a large animal on the highway is extremely dangerous and can result in severe injuries.

I've had some of the same concerns with the size and weight of the Elio. Driving back to Houston from New Orleans in a heavy storm late one night, I managed to scare myself rather badly. Rather than take my SUV, l'd driven my Civic on this businesses trip. . . and in the driving rain, I was having second thoughts about my safety.

About that time an 18-wheeler passed me at about 70 on the Interstate, and as I looked to my left, I could see my reflection in the truck's hubcap. That's when I got a flash of my own insignificance. . . and mortality.

The next week I bought a new SUV. No more driving the Interstate in a small car. At least not at night in bad weather. I could have been squashed like a bug.

But while no vehicle offers complete safety, size is usually helpful. But the Elio, being extremely light, should bounce rather than be crushed. The roll cage doesn't have to protect a very large cockpit, so it should be rigid enough to take a severe crash without deforming badly - again, thanks to the low overall weight of the vehicle, there's not that much energy to absorb or dissipate.

At this point I'm cautiously optimistic about the Elio's crashworthiness.

Not that being in the SUV would matter one whit compared to an 18 wheeler

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

I keep hearing that size matters. Is it factual or urban legend?

F=MA all night and all day... favorite saying of my dad

Force = Mass * Acceleration. Crush zones, seatbelts, and air bags reduce the A enough that even though today's cars are much lighter than those from several decades ago they are far more survivable.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

I grew in deer country, we were taught to brake as much as possible but do so while going dead straight and accept the hit. You can easily survive a deer hit in anything more than a motorcycle, what you can't survive is swerving into a tree or oncoming traffic.

 

[Lil4X]

I keep hearing that size matters. Is it factual or urban legend?

Up to a point, the vehicle's mass works in your favor to isolate you from the collision, but the energy of all that mass moving at speed is going to be tough to dissipate safely. Somebody's gonna get hurt. That doesn't mean you're safer in a lightweight vehicle, but maybe, with seatbelts, airbags, and well-designed crumple zones, you're better off than you might think.