Car Rollover In Front Of My House

[n2ize]

I was walking home yesterday and was coming down my street and all of a sudden I see 2 police cars speed past me and stop down the block in front of my house. Looking down towards my house I see a third police car parked in the bottom of my driveway with the lights flashing. Then two more cop cars race past me and also park in the middle of the street by my house. I see a lot of uniformed cops standing in the street in front of my house. My first reaction is that my house is being raided. Then my second thought was maybe something happened to my Mom who was in the house alone. I started running towards my house and when I reached it there are cops standing everywhere. And then I see it. There is a car on the side of the street across from my house and its flipped upside down. The roof of the car is flattened and crushed in and the windows shattered. Firemen are pouring sand on spilled gasoline and oil A few feet away from the car there is a young woman sitting on a chair and paramedics are examining her. Apparently she was the driver and only occupant of the car. She is conscious and responsive and aside from a cut on her leg she seems to have no injuries. Apparently she was diving down my street and hit a parked car in front of my house and swerved and rolled over. My street is a local narrow side street and the local speed limit is about 25 mph. Which makes me wonder how fast she might have been going in order to roll the car over like that. I've seen cars roll over on the highways but never on a local 25 mph side street. Lucky the girl who was diving wasn't hurt badly and lucky nobody else was hurt. Often there are kids that play right in that spot and had they been there yesterday that car might have rolled over on them. Within an hour the excitement was over and a flatbed hoisted the car and took it away. Up till yesterday I never envisioned a car flipping over on a street like mine,

[PA5COR]

Depending on the angle she hit the car it can be surprisingly low the needed speed to topple over.
I saw a car doing max 10 miles per hour hit an car on the front clipping it, the low front lifted the car and toppled it over as if it was nothing.

[HUGH]

Does soft suspension make it easier to overturn a car?

[WØTKX]

As a worker in the toll road industry, we have seen a drop in rollovers, but another one happened recently. Nobody died.
Most rollovers now occur on city streets, many of the highs speed roads around here have switched to cable barriers.

They trap the vehicle(s) that are out of control, and absorb the energy while doing so. And the barrier is easy to repair.
Old fashioned guard rails and concrete Jersey barriers don't work.

But idiots that drive too fast on crowded urban streets?
Endager themselves and others.

This is why most jurisdictions here have all but elimanated highs speed pursuits.
They get 'em on surveillence cameras a lot. And catch the fuckers later.

[n2ize]

Wow, interesting. I never realized that a rollover could happen at low speeds but then, considering the laws of physics, why not ? Then again. I don't know how fast she may have been driving,

[WZ7U]

Last car I saw roll over was... one I was driving - at around 80mph.

Note to self - Self, don't drive a 78 Honda Civic 80 mph on the freeway because some dumb idjit will pull out in front of you causing you to veer off the highway in a slide and that rear bumper will hook that sapling and flip your dumb ass 6 times; again.

Glad I wore a seatbelt that time and every drive thereafter. Life lesson learned.

[N8YX]

...many of the highs speed roads around here have switched to cable barriers.

They trap the vehicle(s) that are out of control, and absorb the energy while doing so. And the barrier is easy to repair.
Old fashioned guard rails and concrete Jersey barriers don't work.
Noticed a lot of our highways switching to these as well.

Any drawbacks associated with the design you're aware of, Dave?

[n2ize]

Last car I saw roll over was... one I was driving - at around 80mph.

Note to self - Self, don't drive a 78 Honda Civic 80 mph on the freeway because some dumb idjit will pull out in front of you causing you to veer off the highway in a slide and that rear bumper will hook that sapling and flip your dumb ass 6 times; again.

Glad I wore a seatbelt that time and every drive thereafter. Life lesson learned.Were you injured in that rollover ? Must be pretty scary to be inside a car that is out of control and flipping over.

[WØTKX]

Noticed a lot of our highways switching to these as well.

Any drawbacks associated with the design you're aware of, Dave?

There is unproven rhetoric regarding motorcycle crashes, as in making things worse.
But I dunno, you hit any barrier in a bike, it's bad, and maybe fatal.

We are using (one of) the newer high cable tension systems.
Colorado DOT installing them iall over, which is good.
Reminds me of energy absorbing racing barriers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_barrier

[WØTKX]

Were you injured in that rollover ? Must be pretty scary to be inside a car that is out of control and flipping over.

Unless it's designed to do that, and nobody gets hurt.
I've seen these crazies "live". It's hilarious. :lol:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3lS8lvH4NM

[WZ7U]

Were you injured in that rollover ? Must be pretty scary to be inside a car that is out of control and flipping over.

No John, I was really lucky. This was on a newly (then) opened stretch of 4 lane that connects southern parts of the Denver metro area together (C470). I got right out after finally landing upside down; opened the door, popped the belt, landed on head, wiggled around and stood up. I remember yelling at the poor lady that caused the accident which wasn't very nice as she was pretty shook up by it. I had a few bruises and I remember my head bonking the door glass several times as I was swirling around, so perhaps a headache too. This was 1986-ish, when I was younger, dumber and full of, well, never mind. Except the car was totaled of course. Quite the testament to the quality of those era Japanese cars and the reason I continue to wear a seat belt at all times.

Oh yeah, this was around 10am in January so everything was frozen except the road so it made finding my scattered belongings easier to find. And there were quite a few I never found, mostly individual sockets and a few wrenches too. I wasn't as much scared as irritated I was going to miss getting to work that day when I really couldn't afford to miss a day. Probably should've scared me shitless but I think the previous years' motorcycle oopsies already did that.

[KC2UGV]

There is unproven rhetoric regarding motorcycle crashes, as in making things worse.
But I dunno, you hit any barrier in a bike, it's bad, and maybe fatal.

We are using (one of) the newer high cable tension systems.
Colorado DOT installing them iall over, which is good.
Reminds me of energy absorbing racing barriers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_barrier


Yeah, I can't see hitting anything on a motorcycle ending well for the operator.

[N8YX]

Yeah, I can't see hitting anything on a motorcycle ending well for the operator.

And the drunks around here still continue to ride recklessly sans gear - most times at speed.

I was on a Connie 14 last night heading south on a two-lane state route and one came wobbling out of a residence's driveway, crossed the yellow line far enough that I had to evade.

Doofus will try that trick on a cable barrier precisely ONCE.

[K7SGJ]

Were you injured in that rollover ? Must be pretty scary to be inside a car that is out of control and flipping over.

I was in two near fatal rollovers a few years back. I got busted up pretty good, and still have some problems that will get progressively worse as time goes on. The one ride in an air evac helicopter was a 5 minute trip that cost over 17,000 dollars. Take it from me, it's no fun at all.