3 ms·

Double nitpick: I think kinetic energy is actually the more relevant quantity. Citation after a bit of googling: http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/141

• deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
• pdkl95 11y ago
  This is correct. My grandfather was a physicist who reconstructed some of the nastier accidents in CA. He was always looking for two values for most situations: delta-v, and (mv^2)/2. The 'v' being the delta-v of the two vehicles when they collided. The damage done will generally be a function of the kinetic energy that hit it. Note that this implies that unless there are other dangerous road conditions (fog, ice, etc), the safest speed is "the same speed as everybody else" so the delta-v is minimized. Fun note for HN: he had software built for DOS that I helped him get running in dosbox so he could run it on a modern computer. It would reconstruct the motion of the vehicles from the final resting positions and the depth of the dents. working backwards from the implied kinetic energy. Apparently the DOS version was a port of his original FORTRAN source... on punch cards.
  • spectre256 11y ago
    Sounds like some software that belongs in the internet archive, if it's possible!
    • pdkl95 11y ago
      That's a good idea! I'll have to talk to my grandfather about it.
    • eru 11y ago
      And on something like github, for people to experiment with.