4 June 2011

Totterdell smash

| johnboy
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car smash

One man is in a critical condition at The Canberra Hospital and two others suffered minor injuries following a single vehicle collision earlier this morning (Saturday, June 4).

About 2.45am police were called to Totterdell Street in Belconnen after a car hit a tree. The driver and rear passenger sustained minor injuries while the front seat passenger suffered critical injuries after going through the front windscreen of the white Toyota Rav 4.

The front passenger was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the collision.

All three men are aged in their mid 20’s.

ACT Policing’s Collision Investigation and Reconstruction Team are investigating the cause of the collision.

Anyone who may have witnessed the white Toyota Rav 4 at or prior to the collision are urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers website on www.act.crimestoppers.com.au. Information can be provided anonymously.

ACT Policing would like to remind motorists and their passengers to ‘buckle up’ when they get in the car; it could save your life.

[Courtesy ACT Policing]

car smash

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creative_canberran3:02 pm 07 Jun 11

troll-sniffer said :

Ah yes the old selective use of statistics/figures trick. While everything you have said has a basis in fact, the basis is in a small percentage of actual events.

Do you also subscribe to the view that all sunlight is dangerous because there is a miniscule risk that the hour of sun you get today will eventually form a melanoma?

Your comprehension skills need some work, lest you read in my comment that it actually said airbags have saved well over 25,000 lives according to the DOT while having been confirmed by DOT as the direct cause of around over 200 deaths.
If you want to ignore the official advice of regulators, automakers and medical professionals, that is of course your choice.

As for melanoma, you need to do some serious research. You sound as ignorant as people who say that carbon is good for the environment and couldn’t possible hurt it.
UV exposure is the major cause of melanoma, and a range of other risk factors including skin complexion and genetics increase the risk on top of UV exposure. Australia has one of the world’s highest rates of skin cancer.
Again, it’s your choice to ignore what the evidence and research has said for decades. If you develop skin cancer however, kindly elect not to take up space in the public health system… it’s crowded enough helping people with unavoidable cancers much less those who just choose to practice ignorance.

troll-sniffer2:24 pm 07 Jun 11

creative_canberran said :

troll-sniffer said :

Complete bollocks. Airbags have been saving lives in seatbelt-less America for years. Of course, a seatbelt plus airbag is the best combination, but an airbag on its own is not lethal. Some research might be in order before hitting keyboard again methinks.

Obviously this is not a subject troll-sniffer knows much about. If he did, he wouldn’t call the US “seatbeltless”, given all but one state has laws requiring seatbelt use and even that one hold out requires belts for children. Seems his knowledge is pre 1980s. Actual usage is above 85% in most states and increasingly above 90%.

.

Ah yes the old selective use of statistics/figures trick. While everything you have said has a basis in fact, the basis is in a small percentage of actual events. Do some more real research that measures the total number of airbag events vs actual seat belt usage vs actual injuries with and without seatbelts for similar events, and you will see a vastly different picture to what your biased selective interprrtation would have us believe.

Of course sun visors are going to warn that the airbag used without a seatbelt can cause injury and in extreme cases death. However, given that the likes of yourself cannot diffeentiate between various classes of statisitics, what it should say is something more along the lines of “Warning. Although this airbag will save a lot more lives than no airbag at all in the vast majority of higher speed collisions, and there exists a small percentage chance of severe injury and death due to the airbag’s operation, the airbag is safest when combined with an effective seatbelt or similar restraint.

Do you also subscribe to the view that all sunlight is dangerous because there is a miniscule risk that the hour of sun you get today will eventually form a melanoma?

As a lesser mortal road user I’m not surprised that you think Ayrton Senna was killed by the concrete wall but it was in fact a failure of technology that killed him. He had a tyre let go, this speered him off the track, when he impacted the wall, his helmet was penetrated by the steering components of his car and it was this that killed him. It was a crash that most GP drivers would have survived. A combination of mechanical failures killed him, not a lack of ability.

No doubt if Australian Police were asked to investigate the incident they would say speed was to blame for the accident! 😉

Captain RAAF9:58 am 07 Jun 11

Captain RAAF said :

BenMac said :

Captain RAAF said :

Technology killed Ayrton Senna, one of the best car drivers ever

Actually, I think it was a concrete wall in Imola that killed Ayrton Senna. Same with Roland Ratzenberger.

As a lesser mortal road user I’m not surprised that you think Ayrton Senna was killed by the concrete wall but it was in fact a failure of technology that killed him. He had a tyre let go, this speered him off the track, when he impacted the wall, his helmet was penetrated by the steering components of his car and it was this that killed him. It was a crash that most GP drivers would have survived. A combination of mechanical failures killed him, not a lack of ability.

Good video to watch, Grand Prix ‘the Killing years’. I recommend it to everyone. I’ll post a link later to where you can watch it online if JB doesn’t mind. I encourage you to sit your kids down to watch it, if the think they are bullet proof on the road they will soon think again. It’s sad and very moving.

It doesn’t apply to me of course. 😉

Here is the link;

http://ca.autoblog.com/2011/05/22/vintage-crash-compilation-shows-how-far-racing-has-come/#continued

There is a lot to be learned from this video, especially for those in the community that think ‘it will never happen to me’.

Captain RAAF7:00 am 07 Jun 11

BenMac said :

Captain RAAF said :

Technology killed Ayrton Senna, one of the best car drivers ever

Actually, I think it was a concrete wall in Imola that killed Ayrton Senna. Same with Roland Ratzenberger.

As a lesser mortal road user I’m not surprised that you think Ayrton Senna was killed by the concrete wall but it was in fact a failure of technology that killed him. He had a tyre let go, this speered him off the track, when he impacted the wall, his helmet was penetrated by the steering components of his car and it was this that killed him. It was a crash that most GP drivers would have survived. A combination of mechanical failures killed him, not a lack of ability.

Good video to watch, Grand Prix ‘the Killing years’. I recommend it to everyone. I’ll post a link later to where you can watch it online if JB doesn’t mind. I encourage you to sit your kids down to watch it, if the think they are bullet proof on the road they will soon think again. It’s sad and very moving.

It doesn’t apply to me of course. 😉

The passenger is certainly a Darwin Award – at risk survivor winner.

Captain RAAF said :

Technology killed Ayrton Senna, one of the best car drivers ever

Actually, I think it was a concrete wall in Imola that killed Ayrton Senna. Same with Roland Ratzenberger.

Captain RAAF5:59 pm 06 Jun 11

OpenYourMind said :

Captain RAAF smashed into another car!!!! I remember the good Captain telling us a while back about how he was a driver with skills above that of an F1 driver and how he didn’t even need brakes because his driving skills were such that he could avoid any accident situation whatsoever. He said some other ‘stuff’ too.
And now, I hear he managed to crash an old Ford. Disappointing.

Two words…

Ayrton Senna

Sometimes, a driver comes along who surpasses all others but who is tragically let down by technological shortfalls or stupidity of lesser mortals. Technology killed Ayrton Senna, one of the best car drivers ever and stupidity of a Daihatsu driver killed my GT.

Sometimes, these anomolies occur and only the best of the best survive, Ayrton’s dead, sadly, but I’m still around.

See you on the road!

OpenYourMind4:59 pm 06 Jun 11

Captain RAAF smashed into another car!!!! I remember the good Captain telling us a while back about how he was a driver with skills above that of an F1 driver and how he didn’t even need brakes because his driving skills were such that he could avoid any accident situation whatsoever. He said some other ‘stuff’ too.
And now, I hear he managed to crash an old Ford. Disappointing.

I wouldn’t be surprised if these were the people who were beeping their horns and speeding through Morell Cl in Belconnen at 2.30am that night.

Captain RAAF12:58 pm 06 Jun 11

Classified said :

Captain RAAF said :

I saw a bloke get launched threw his windscreen, happened right in front of me in 1989. I put a GT Falcon at 100kmh straight into a Daihatsu 4WD head on. I and my passenger were both wearing a racing harness (the car was a bit of a brauler) and the Daihatsu had done a right hand turn in front of me. With no way to stop in time and nowhere to go, we came together at the top of the T intersection.

We injured our knees as they impacted the dash, mine were a little worse as the ignition and column are closer on the drivers side but overall, we walked away pretty much unscathed. The driver of the Daihatsu however, not wearing his seat belt, got launched through his windscreen and landed on his bonnet, his car then rolling down a hill and impacted a fence, throwing him off the front of the car at slow speed.
He walked back up the hill to the crash scene.

When your body experiences great trauma, a lot of it shuts down so you don’t feel anything, like laminated windscreens, so kissing the glass in front of you and ending up outside the car is entirely survivable, it also helps to not hit anything between the windscreen and the road.

What a waste. Those GTs were fantastic cars. Wasn’t a HO, was it…?

Nope, XB ex-Ford executives car, had aaalllll the fruit! Very sad. =-(

Captain RAAF said :

I saw a bloke get launched threw his windscreen, happened right in front of me in 1989. I put a GT Falcon at 100kmh straight into a Daihatsu 4WD head on. I and my passenger were both wearing a racing harness (the car was a bit of a brauler) and the Daihatsu had done a right hand turn in front of me. With no way to stop in time and nowhere to go, we came together at the top of the T intersection.

We injured our knees as they impacted the dash, mine were a little worse as the ignition and column are closer on the drivers side but overall, we walked away pretty much unscathed. The driver of the Daihatsu however, not wearing his seat belt, got launched through his windscreen and landed on his bonnet, his car then rolling down a hill and impacted a fence, throwing him off the front of the car at slow speed.
He walked back up the hill to the crash scene.

When your body experiences great trauma, a lot of it shuts down so you don’t feel anything, like laminated windscreens, so kissing the glass in front of you and ending up outside the car is entirely survivable, it also helps to not hit anything between the windscreen and the road.

What a waste. Those GTs were fantastic cars. Wasn’t a HO, was it…?

As someone who has been through the windscreen of a car, please wear a seatbelt! I was only a little girl on her dad’s lap in the passenger seat and didn’t have a belt on. I went through the windscreen and STILL require physio for a back injury that could have been so much worse. Drivers, it is YOUR responsibility to ensure EVERY passenger has a belt on, so do it!

Captain RAAF said :

I saw a bloke get launched threw his windscreen, happened right in front of me in 1989. I put a GT Falcon at 100kmh straight into a Daihatsu 4WD head on. I and my passenger were both wearing a racing harness (the car was a bit of a brauler) and the Daihatsu had done a right hand turn in front of me. With no way to stop in time and nowhere to go, we came together at the top of the T intersection.

We injured our knees as they impacted the dash, mine were a little worse as the ignition and column are closer on the drivers side but overall, we walked away pretty much unscathed. The driver of the Daihatsu however, not wearing his seat belt, got launched through his windscreen and landed on his bonnet, his car then rolling down a hill and impacted a fence, throwing him off the front of the car at slow speed.
He walked back up the hill to the crash scene.

When your body experiences great trauma, a lot of it shuts down so you don’t feel anything, like laminated windscreens, so kissing the glass in front of you and ending up outside the car is entirely survivable, it also helps to not hit anything between the windscreen and the road.

Oh yeah, by the way, when does my car get fixed!!!

LOL.

creative_canberran12:59 am 06 Jun 11

troll-sniffer said :

Complete bollocks. Airbags have been saving lives in seatbelt-less America for years. Of course, a seatbelt plus airbag is the best combination, but an airbag on its own is not lethal. Some research might be in order before hitting keyboard again methinks.

Obviously this is not a subject troll-sniffer knows much about. If he did, he wouldn’t call the US “seatbeltless”, given all but one state has laws requiring seatbelt use and even that one hold out requires belts for children. Seems his knowledge is pre 1980s. Actual usage is above 85% in most states and increasingly above 90%.

He obviously missed an article from Harvard School of Public Health in The American Journal of Public Health which said:
“A study by Maria Segui-Gomez, MD, Sc.D., done when she was with the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, finds that the deployment of these airbags in low speed crashes actually increases the likelihood that a driver will be injured. These injuries range from minor to serious and even fatal. Women are more likely to suffer airbag-induced injuries than men.”

In 1998, the US introduced 2nd Gen Airbags to address the injuries caused by first generation designs. Newer systems feature changes to deployment speed and shape to better cope with unrestrained occupants. There was a noticeable decline in airbag caused injuries and deaths following that.

He must choose to ignore the current advisory from the US Department of Transport:
“Air bags can still cause serious injury or death to occupants who are not properly restrained and in the proper seating position. Advanced frontal air bags are a supplemental restraint system, just like earlier generation air bags, and must be used in combination with a seat belt.”

He is right though, airbags do save lives… when used with a seatbelt. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that the combination of safety belts and air bags is 75 percent effective in preventing serious head injuries and 66 percent effective in preventing serious chest injuries in head-on collisions.

But the NHTSA also warns that “Almost all air bag-related deaths have involved unrestrained or improperly restrained occupants.”

The NHTSA also found that to the 1st January 2003, airbags had been confirmed to have caused the death of 227 people. Now compared to the 25,000+ lives directly saved by airbags according to NHTSA, they certainly do save lives… used correctly. When they’re not, they can and HAVE caused fatalities.

Luckily, every Australian vehicle with SRA Airbags has a sticker on the sun visor warning that not wearing a seatbelt can result in airbags causing serious injury and death. In light of troll-sniffers comment, it’s not hard to see why those stickers are in cars.

It’s alright guys he’s out of hospital now. Here is a quick video showing his rapid recovery! Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wLi_PaYpo0

Looks like the driver sconed him/herself too! I wonder if he or she was wearing a seatbelt or not, if not – maybe the steering wheel stopped them from flying through the glass also.

Captain RAAF8:26 pm 05 Jun 11

I saw a bloke get launched threw his windscreen, happened right in front of me in 1989. I put a GT Falcon at 100kmh straight into a Daihatsu 4WD head on. I and my passenger were both wearing a racing harness (the car was a bit of a brauler) and the Daihatsu had done a right hand turn in front of me. With no way to stop in time and nowhere to go, we came together at the top of the T intersection.

We injured our knees as they impacted the dash, mine were a little worse as the ignition and column are closer on the drivers side but overall, we walked away pretty much unscathed. The driver of the Daihatsu however, not wearing his seat belt, got launched through his windscreen and landed on his bonnet, his car then rolling down a hill and impacted a fence, throwing him off the front of the car at slow speed.
He walked back up the hill to the crash scene.

When your body experiences great trauma, a lot of it shuts down so you don’t feel anything, like laminated windscreens, so kissing the glass in front of you and ending up outside the car is entirely survivable, it also helps to not hit anything between the windscreen and the road.

I’m amazed that the driver only suffered minor injuries – looking at the 2nd photo, it very much looks like his head hit the windscreen too.

troll-sniffer5:45 pm 05 Jun 11

creative_canberran said :

Ironic that the passenger probably survived only because the car was older and less safe. Had a passenger airbag been install, the explosive force would have easily killed an unrestrained occupant, hence it’s even more important now to wear seat belts than in the past.

Airbags are designed to fit within cms of an occupant after deploying within milliseconds and even when the occupant is retrained, they cause minor injury.
Passenger should count them self lucky.

Complete bollocks. Airbags have been saving lives in seatbelt-less America for years. Of course, a seatbelt plus airbag is the best combination, but an airbag on its own is not lethal. Some research might be in order before hitting keyboard again methinks.

grunge_hippy5:44 pm 05 Jun 11

looks like the driver head butted the window too…

nasty.

creative_canberran5:22 pm 05 Jun 11

Ironic that the passenger probably survived only because the car was older and less safe. Had a passenger airbag been install, the explosive force would have easily killed an unrestrained occupant, hence it’s even more important now to wear seat belts than in the past.

Airbags are designed to fit within cms of an occupant after deploying within milliseconds and even when the occupant is retrained, they cause minor injury.
Passenger should count them self lucky.

Antagonist said :

Did you consider that our windscreen pilots first language might not be english – even before the crash? How do you design an effective roadsign for these people?

It’s the driver’s responsibilty to ensure all passengers (and themselves) are wearing a seatbelt. Since wearing a seatbelt is something covered when getting a licence, there is no excuse.

To be honest, if you’re stupid enough to not be wearing a seatbelt (especially if the driver is *allegedly* driving like a douche) then I think road signs in a language you can’t understand is the least of your concerns.

Antagonist said :

I was actually in TCH ED at the time these guys were admitted. I personally witnessed the TCH staff work not only on these guys, but a whole range of other serious admissions. My problem was insifgnificant compared to what was going on last night, so it was around 6:30 this morning when a doctor was FINALLY able to get to me.

No sooner were we about to start talking, when one of the big shot doctors was walking past. He stopped in mid-stride, turned to the young doctor in front of me and said “Well done – you saved him.” And he just walked off. That was it. That was his recognition.

I have a whole new respect for those guys. LOTS of it too.

Those guys are brilliant. I also have heaps of respect for them as people like them saved the life of a girl I know about a year ago. A young P plater, the accident wasn’t her fault but she had every bone in her face broken. She WAS wearing a seatbelt. Imagine how bad it wold have been without one.

Yep if it wasn’t a front-on impact, the other passengers would have been in the firing line. Reminds me of an old RTA/NSW ad.

It would be great if the NRMA and ACT govt would purchase rights to screen the TAC adverts. This one is pretty easy to understand what’s going on even if you can’t hear or understand the commentary.

what_the said :

Pretty hard to have an accident in Totterdell without flogging it. Seriously, we STILL have to tell people to put seatbelts on????

Yup and apparently if you do, were the nanny state…….. Not hard to have a prang if your pissed though (not saying this is the case)

Something for people to remember is by not wearing a seatbelt is not just hurting yourself. Look at who else it affects, emergency staff, family, witnesses and possibly even the fellow passengers in the vehicle when your a missile on your way out of the car.

Hope this fella gets to learn his lesson without too much trauma.

Ceej1973 said :

… but seriously, do you think this guy must have seen the big signs plastered around Canberra (they havnt been driven over…YET), that read “no belt, no brains”.

I get your point here, and one would think common sense would apply. Let us take another look at the photo and we will apply a (suprisingly accurate) stereotype. Did you consider that our windscreen pilots first language might not be english – even before the crash? How do you design an effective roadsign for these people? One would hope we don’t need road signs for this stuff, but I guess you just can’t cater for every person every time.

How hard do you think it might have made it for TCH staff and ACT Policing to figure out who this guy is if he barely speaks english? Or if he can feel his toes? Who his mother is? I love that old ad on TV with the dude being slapped across the face. “Wear a seatbelt. Wear a seatbelt. Wear a seatbelt.”

Pretty hard to have an accident in Totterdell without flogging it. Seriously, we STILL have to tell people to put seatbelts on????

LSWCHP said :

Classified said :

S*** happens from time to time, but not wearing a seatbelt? What a retard!

If he wasn’t retarded before, I’d say he’s likely to be so, after going headfirst through a car window at high speed. That’s ugly stuff. Let’s hope he lives, and is able to learn.

Yeah, I’ll give you that. I do hope he recovers.

I analysed the story by looking at the picture before reading the article, and instantly assumed that it is the car responsible for running down half the road signs in Canberra of late, and that it had barked up the wrong sign, or in this case the wrong tree at last, but alas I was to be dissapointed. I feel sorry for the kid who is worse off than the tree, but seriously, do you think this guy must have seen the big signs plastered around Canberra (they havnt been driven over…YET), that read “no belt, no brains”.

canberralocal said :

Inconceivable that the bloke wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. No doubt he’ll be the face of the next “buckle up” advertising campaign…

It’ll be interesting to see what sort of face he has if he used it to punch his way through a windscreen and then face-plant the pavement/asphalt. Of course the tree might have intercepted his trajectory.

Classified said :

S*** happens from time to time, but not wearing a seatbelt? What a retard!

If he wasn’t retarded before, I’d say he’s likely to be so, after going headfirst through a car window at high speed. That’s ugly stuff. Let’s hope he lives, and is able to learn.

canberralocal9:45 pm 04 Jun 11

Inconceivable that the bloke wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. No doubt he’ll be the face of the next “buckle up” advertising campaign…

Harriet Vane8:26 pm 04 Jun 11

This was at the bottom of my driveway and I didn’t know about it until I saw this article. (I’m a very deep sleeper, apparently.) I saw the white markers today when I went out and wondered what was up.

Hope the chap who went through the windscreen pulls through.

I was actually in TCH ED at the time these guys were admitted. I personally witnessed the TCH staff work not only on these guys, but a whole range of other serious admissions. My problem was insifgnificant compared to what was going on last night, so it was around 6:30 this morning when a doctor was FINALLY able to get to me.

No sooner were we about to start talking, when one of the big shot doctors was walking past. He stopped in mid-stride, turned to the young doctor in front of me and said “Well done – you saved him.” And he just walked off. That was it. That was his recognition.

I have a whole new respect for those guys. LOTS of it too.

S*** happens from time to time, but not wearing a seatbelt? What a retard!

Slow down, buckle up and look out for trees jumping into the middle of the road.

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