If the accident cannot be avoided: how to prepare for the impact of the passenger of the car

According to statistics, systematic violations of traffic rules in 75% of cases lead to an accident. No one guarantees that you will not become a participant in an accident, so you need to know the rules to minimize damage.

Head-on collision

Such collisions occur in reckless drivers when overtaking. When it is performed, the car that has pulled ahead does not have time to return from the oncoming lane to its own lane, rushing at a decent speed in the opposite direction. Multidirectionally applied moments of forces join the huge kinetic energy of motion.

In this case, there is little chance of survival for both the driver and his passengers. If you are sitting in the back seat, but wearing a seatbelt, the risk of fatal injuries is reduced by 2-2,5 times.

Unbelted passengers will, by inertia, fly forward at the speed of the car before the collision. When they crash into a windshield, a panel, a chair back, etc., according to the law of physics, gravity comes into play and a person's weight will increase tenfold. For clarity, at a car speed of 80 km / h, the weight of a passenger in a collision will increase by 80 times.

Even if you weigh 50 kg, you will receive a blow of 4 tons. Those sitting in the front seat break their noses, chests and receive penetrating wounds of the abdominal cavity when they hit the steering wheel or panel.

If you are not wearing a seatbelt and are in the back seat, during the impact of inertia, the body will fly into the front seats and you will pin the passengers on them.

The main thing, with the inevitability of such events, is to protect your head. At low vehicle speed, squeeze your spine into the seat as tightly as possible. Straining all the muscles, rest your hands on the dashboard or chair. The head should be lowered so that the chin rests on the chest.

During the impact, the head will first be pulled forward (here it rests on the chest), and then back - and there should be a well-adjusted headrest. If you are not wearing a seat belt, sitting in the back and the speed exceeds 60 km / h, press your chest against the back of the driver's seat or try to fall down. Cover the child with your body.

The passenger in front, before the collision, needs to fall sideways, covering his head with his hands, and rest his feet on the floor, spread out on the seat.

The person sitting in the middle back will be the first to fly out into the windshield. Trauma to the skull is inevitable. The probability of death is 10 times higher than other passengers.

Side impact on the passenger side

The cause of a side impact can be an elementary skid of the car, incorrect passage of an intersection, or high speed on a turn.

This type of accident is the most frequent and no less traumatic than a frontal one.

Belts help little here: they are useful in frontal impact and rear collision (designed to move forward and upward), they fix the body weakly in the lateral directions. However, strapped passengers are 1,8 times less likely to be injured.

Almost all domestic cars do not have the necessary margin of safety for the body in a side collision. Cabin doors sag inward, causing additional injury.

Unbelted passengers in the rear due to the impact randomly hit the doors, windows of the car and each other, flying off to the other end of the seat. Chest, arms and legs are injured.

When hitting a car from the side, close your eyes tightly, bend your arms at the elbows and press them to the upper body in the chest area, folding them crosswise, clench your fingers into fists. Do not try to grab the ceiling and door handles. In side impacts, there is always a risk of pinching limbs.

Having slightly bent your back, press your chin to your chest (this will reduce the risk of damaging the spine in the cervical region), bend your legs at the knees, bring your feet together and rest them against the panel.

If the expected blow is coming from your side, you should try to jump back in the opposite direction and grab onto any fixed part, for example, the back of the seat. If you are sitting behind, it is advisable to lie down, even on the knees of a neighbor, and tighten your legs - this way you will protect yourself from the blow and soften it. The driver's knees won't help you, he has to concentrate himself. Therefore, in the front seat, you should move away from the place of impact, rest your feet on the floor, try to protect your head with your hands, after pulling it into your shoulders.

Rear kick

Passengers usually suffer whiplash injuries in such an impact. With them, the head and neck will first jerk sharply back, then forward. And this is at any location - in front or behind.

When thrown back from hitting the back of the chair, you can injure the spine, and the head - in contact with the head restraint. When located in front, the injuries will be similar due to hitting a torpedo.

Wearing a seat belt will reduce the chance of dying in the back seat by 25% and in the front by 50%. If you sit in the back without a seatbelt, you can break your nose from the impact.

If you already know that the impact will be from behind, put your feet on the floor and fix your head, pressing it against the headrest. If it is not there, slide down and rest your head against the back. Such actions will help save you from death, disability and serious injury.

Machine rollover

When the car rolls over, passengers are twisted in it, as in a snowball. But if they were fastened, the risk of injury is reduced by 5 times. If the belts are not used, then during a rollover, people injure themselves and others, somersaulting in the cabin. Mutilations are inflicted on the skull, spine and neck due to blows on the door, roof and car seats.

When flipping, you need to group and grab with all your might into something immovable, for example, in the back of a seat, chair or door handle. Just not the ceiling - they are flimsy. Do not unfasten the belt: it will hold in one place and will not let you fly randomly in the cabin.

When turning over, the most important thing is not to stick your head into the ceiling and not hurt your neck.

More than half of Russians ignore seat belts, only 20% fasten their backs. But a belt can save a life. This is important even for short trips at low speeds.