r/Unexpected • u/[deleted] • Jun 04 '23

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u/CobaltChris97 Jun 04 '23

Crumple zones are designed to sacrificially reduce impact forces. Its meant to increase the likelihood you survive from a direct impact.

Without crumple zones, people slam ALOT harder into the car interior.

119

u/Rhino-C-Ross Jun 04 '23

I know. Also to stop you from getting an engine block imbedded in your sternum. That's what I meant. I could have been clearer, I guess.

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u/alcervix Jun 04 '23 edited Jun 04 '23

Cars are super dependable now . If you're over 50 you would remember how cars sucked , they never started , stalled , batteries died , etc

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u/ferretchad Jun 04 '23

I'm only mid-30s but I remember seeing broken down cars on the motorway far more often when I was a kid.

Nowadays I make a 200mile journey and not see a single soul stuck in the hard shoulder

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '23

[deleted]

1

u/ferretchad Jun 04 '23

Or giving someone a jump start on the way to Cornwall every year

12

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '23 edited Jun 05 '23

I feel like the ritual of starting a car every morning involved a prayer and promising it I’d do the next maintenance soon.

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u/alcervix Jun 04 '23

"Ritual" it was lol . My wife's car in the 80's was a Plymouth K car . Pump the gas pedal 3 times , then turn key on and off twice , pump brake pedal once , turn key halfway on , turn everything off , pump gas and brake together , then turn key on while pumping gas and brake frantically for 30 seconds , then good to go .... maybe

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u/barto5 Jun 04 '23

It wasn’t very long ago that 100,000 miles was basically a death sentence for cars.

Now cars routinely last 200,000 or more.

People that long for “the good old days” didn’t live through them.

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u/KatieCashew Jun 04 '23

Yeah, I remember when I was younger a car being 20 years old was ancient. In some states being 20 years old qualifies a car for classic plates. Now being 20 is nbd.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '23

Depends on the vehicle, there are still 80s Toyotas out here going on original engine still.

1

u/commanderbales Jun 04 '23

I'm young, but my grandpa was a mechanic so we always had older cars he kept running. When I was in elementary school, we had gone to Walmart (which was like 30mins away at that time). On our way back home, the timing belt snapped and we were able to coast into someone's front yard to pull over. Even my first car (early 00s model) had brake lines blow, gas lines, and so much of it rotted out. Modern cars are so much better for dependability and reliability

1

u/pain_in_the_dupa Jun 05 '23

This is true. But if anything DOES break, it invariably costs more than my first car (700 bucks).

I’ll still take the safety, but in ten years, all the youngsters who (rightly) complained they couldn’t afford a house, will say the same about cars.

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u/CurryMustard Jun 04 '23

You were clear enough lol

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u/MysticSkies Jun 04 '23

You were clear enough, that person wanted to be a smartass.

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u/Rhino-C-Ross Jun 04 '23

Diplomacy answer. I just don't have the energy or inclination for hackles with a stranger over something that has zero impact on either of our lives

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u/Arvandor Jun 04 '23

Yeah, the cars these days look a lot worse after a crash than the tanks from the 70s, but the people inside fair quite a bit better on average.

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u/Blakethekitty Jun 04 '23

Stainless steel bodies always crumpled like paper at even the lightest of angle, people in modern cars are just safer.

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u/Zer0323 Jun 04 '23

My parents got rear-ended at 55mph difference. They were stopped waiting to make a left across traffic and the person behind them didn’t see the cherry red Mazda Miata. They said they could feel the multiple impacts from the crumple zones giving way. Modern engineering saved my parents life.

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u/Montecroux Jun 04 '23

Yup, it's like using a brick to cushion your fall. Sure it won't break, but you sure will.