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A guy I knew in college was in a truck when a tornado hit and it threw that truck like an angry toddler with a hot wheels. They found the truck more than a mile

A guy I knew in college was in a truck when a tornado hit and it threw that truck like an angry toddler with a hot wheels. They found the truck more than a mile away. The guy wasn’t even in it anymore. They found him in several locations. DO NOT get in a car for safety in a Tornado.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago
Your comment is BS on the order of "I know a guy who didn't die in an accident because he wasn't wearing his seat-belt and was thrown clear" Vehicle cabins are far stronger than all but the most heavily built of above ground structures. They are expressly designed to be as survivable as possible in the kind of rollover accident that being tossed by wind is similar to. Furthermore, there's negligible chance of being killed by the car itself sustaining damage. This is very much not true about any sort of building. You might not get tossed in a stick build structure or steel warehouse style building but does that really matter if a wall or pallet rack falls on you? Of course a purpose built shelter or below ground level area is better but if those aren't available a car is your next best option.
pfdietz 5y ago
There was another case at the University of Maryland some years back. Two women were in a car that got picked up and tossed over (or into?) some trees. They did not survive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_outbreak_of_September_24,_2001 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_outbreak_of_September_... "Tragically, [the victims] had just left the building and were driving away when the funnel picked them up and carried the car several hundred yards, over one of the high-rise dorms, before dropping the car into the woods beyond." https://www.astro.umd.edu/~white/images/tornado/ https://www.astro.umd.edu/~white/images/tornado/ Submitted: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29522918 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29522918

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

Your comment is BS on the order of "I know a guy who didn't die in an accident because he wasn't wearing his seat-belt and was thrown clear" Vehicle cabins are far stronger than all but the most heavily built of above ground structures. They are expressly designed to be as survivable as possible in the kind of rollover accident that being tossed by wind is similar to. Furthermore, there's negligible chance of being killed by the car itself sustaining damage. This is very much not true about any sort of building. You might not get tossed in a stick build structure or steel warehouse style building but does that really matter if a wall or pallet rack falls on you? Of course a purpose built shelter or below ground level area is better but if those aren't available a car is your next best option.

pfdietz 5y ago

There was another case at the University of Maryland some years back. Two women were in a car that got picked up and tossed over (or into?) some trees. They did not survive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_outbreak_of_September_24,_2001 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_outbreak_of_September_... "Tragically, [the victims] had just left the building and were driving away when the funnel picked them up and carried the car several hundred yards, over one of the high-rise dorms, before dropping the car into the woods beyond." https://www.astro.umd.edu/~white/images/tornado/ https://www.astro.umd.edu/~white/images/tornado/ Submitted: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29522918 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29522918