Quote:
Originally Posted by IamIan
Two vehicles of identical design expect Car A weighs more than Car B ... both vehicles experience the same collision event with a stationary object at the same speed ... Car A with it's greater mass will have more impact energy than car B ... This is just the way the world works ... KE=1/2MV^2 and F=MA ... A heavier , more mass itself always equals more energy and more force... .
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This force you cite here would be important for the tree, brick wall, etc. getting hit, not the driver.
More force acting ***on what object?*** is the specific way to apply this. The increased force acting to stop the more massive car acts *on the car*, and it has more mass, giving it a proportionally equal value of acceleration.
What is experienced by the person inside is relative to the quantity of acceleration they experience inside the car that is having this force imparted to it. Assuming both cars crush say, 0.50m, at the same rate, both drivers experience the exact same force during impact with said stationary object.
*Now if one driver is fatter than the other, HE has more impact energy to be dissipated, and HE will experience a proportionately greater force *acting on him*.
That said I voted for the compact and just drive safely.
You can avoid accidents by being observant and alert, and not driving faster than necessary (as you mentioned, velocity is critical in Kinetic Energy)
Most wrecks are due to driver error or inattention so you can save a lot by being careful yourself and watching out for others.