Driver of HMMWV dead after accident...

[Coug]

So looks like someone was ejected from the vehicle and then the truck caused an accident. News article doesn't go into details, but a secondhand account posted on facecrook about what really happened is posted below




News article that was linked about it


KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - The Knox County Sheriff’s Office has released details in a deadly crash that happened on Old Ebenezer Road Friday.

The crash happened at South Peters Road and killed Stephen Medrano, 31, who was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the sheriff’s office, the driver of a Humvee travelling west on the road crossed into oncoming traffic, hitting another car. The driver of the Humvee was thrown from their vehicle through an open door, according to the office’s report.

The Humvee then continued on, hitting another car, which then hit the driver, who was lying on the road.

That crash happened around 5 p.m. Two other people were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, one being an eight-year-old. At this time, the severity of their possible injuries has not been released.

Copyright 2023 WVLT. All rights reserved.

Details released in deadly Ebenezer crash

One person is dead after a car crash on Old Ebenezer at South Peters Road on Friday, according to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

www.wvlt.tv

Reality is, this could happen in any vehicle if there isn't a solid door on it, and the occupant isn't wearing a seatbelt.

 

[Mogman]

P. T. Barnum was right.

 

[ToddJK]

Sad news to hear. Regardless of what it was, it seems like not wearing the seat belt was a major factor other than not driving defensively.

 

[Autonomy_Lost]

Curious about the humvee "losing a wheel." Was that a cause, or effect, of the accident?

 

[TechnoWeenie]

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Entirely preventable.

 

[swbradley1]

I never noticed that it was possible to throw yourself out of HMMWV. I've only driven one at the Georgia Rally. I see people all the time driving their lifted jeeps and they all look like they will out without a High-G maneuver.

Seatbelts are a good thing.

 

[Awol]

Funny how you can't get thrown out of a topless/door less vehicle if you're wearing a seat belt. I've never once felt unsafe in any Humvee or Jeep without doors, but I was always wearing a belt.


That's awful for the guy driving, but was entirely preventable. RIP

 

[Mainsail]

I've been an avid seatbelt wearer ever since high school, when my sister armor-all'd the bench seats in my 1970 Ford LTD. It was the only way to stay behind the wheel in a left turn.

I had a friend a few years back got into an argument with his wife in a bar (he had ...uh... wandering eyes) and drove home kinda-drunk and pretty angry. He lost control due to speed in a turn, back end hit a tree stump and whipped it around violently. The impact broke the passenger seat-back and she slid out from under the belt and exited through the left passenger window (which was closed at the time). No serious injuries but he got a DUI for it.

Yeah, sometimes it's the other guy, but not driving stupid prevents a lot of bad stuff.

 

[Bulldogger]

I've been an avid seatbelt wearer ever since high school, when my sister armor-all'd the bench seats in my 1970 Ford LTD. It was the only way to stay behind the wheel in a left turn.

I had a friend a few years back got into an argument with his wife in a bar (he had ...uh... wandering eyes) and drove home kinda-drunk and pretty angry. He lost control due to speed in a turn, back end hit a tree stump and whipped it around violently. The impact broke the passenger seat-back and she slid out from under the belt and exited through the left passenger window (which was closed at the time). No serious injuries but he got a DUI for it.

Yeah, sometimes it's the other guy, but not driving stupid prevents a lot of bad stuff.

Has a friend whose GF armor-all'd his motorcycle seat, ostensibly to show she cared and wanted to share in his pursuits... The bike went out from under him lickety split!

 

[springer1981]

I've always said these are not good daily drivers because of the lack of safety features. That said, this doesn't seem to be a case of lack of safety features but more a case of Darwinism. I wonder if Alcohol was involved? I can't imagine falling out of a HMMWV sober, with or without a seatbelt.

 

[Mogman]

I've always said these are not good daily drivers because of the lack of safety features. That said, this doesn't seem to be a case of lack of safety features but more a case of Darwinism. I wonder if Alcohol was involved? I can't imagine falling out of a HMMWV sober, with or without a seatbelt.

It is indeed unfortunate when anyone dies in an auto accident, one would think that at 31 he would have known better.

Regardless my sympathy goes out to his loved ones.

I do have to smile every time someone mentions the lack of safety features, my first car did not even come with seat belts, 95% of us were driving on drum brakes and many had only a single hydraulic braking system.
A little too much rain or careless use of the brakes and you simply had no brakes, it was not uncommon in my youth to see a vehicle busting a red light or stop sign not because the driver was not paying attention but because he/she had no brakes, usually with the horn blaring the entire time, at least you could hear the horns of that period.
Many vehicles had rigid steering columns so in a severe frontal impact the steering column would get shoved through the drivers chest.
It was a different era, high speed tire failures were common, the roads were narrow with no improved shoulders, interstate highways were much fewer than now.
What is now I10 was mostly two lane and the trip from Texas to FLA took you though "down town" of almost every little Podunk town in between.

Safety has vastly improved since those days and that is a very good thing but because of that many are complacent and lack any real driving skills.

 

[Mainsail]

... 95% of us were driving on drum brakes and many had only a single hydraulic braking system.
A little too much rain or careless use of the brakes and you simply had no brakes, it was very common in my youth to see a vehicle busting a red light or stop sign not because the driver was not paying attention but because he/she had no brakes, usually with the horn blaring the entire time, at least you could hear the horns of that period.

This is becoming lost knowledge. Most young people only know - push pedal car stop.

Back (early 80s) when I was stationed at Travis AFB I bought a Ford Maverick off some guy's front lawn for $50. It was my beater car. It had drum brakes all around, and coasting out of Mix Canyon there was a certain place we had to pull over and allow the brakes to cool, otherwise we'd have no brakes whatsoever.

This is critical in heavy aircraft as extended taxiing can get the brakes hot enough that you might not be able to stop if the subsequent takeoff run is rejected; mash down on the brakes but the plane runs off the end of the runway.

The "science" behind it is the law of energy conservation; the kinetic energy of the mass in motion cannot be simply destroyed, it must be converted to another form. Brake systems convert that energy into heat, and the system can only tolerate so much heat before it become ineffective. Once the brake drums reach a certain temperature, all the pressure you might apply to the brake pedal will do nothing at all (except make more heat). Disk brake systems dissipate the heat better and are thus more efficient, seldom becoming so hot they no longer work (in light cars and trucks anyway).

Aircraft multiple disk brake systems are designed to be robust, so much so that they can become hot enough to cause the tires to explode (heat expansion), melt the wheels themselves, or catch fire. Heavy aircraft use fusible plugs in the wheels that melt at lower temps, deflating the tire in a more controlled way than explosion. We had a two page chart in the aircraft performance manual to determine the millions of foot-pounds of energy absorbed by the braking system- at a certain level we evacuate the aircraft and call the fire dept. I discovered the biggest problem with this complicated chart on a landing in Panama; max-effort braking is a tad unnerving and watching the end of the runway rapidly approaching causes some tremoring in the hands, making it very hard to work your way through that chart.

Sorry for the diversion!

 

[springer1981]

I do have to smile every time someone mentions the lack of safety features, my first car did not even come with seat belts, 95% of us were driving on drum brakes and many had only a single hydraulic braking system.

To be clear I still drive my HMMWV. There is a clear lack of safety and in particular the H1 Hummer has brackets for lack of a better description, to prevent the hood from going through the windshield during a front end collision. The HMMWV does not have the same brackets and also many other features the H1 has. I have other vehicles and drove many vehicles that have the same or less safety features as the HMMWV also. It still doesn't make it any safer.

 

[ToddJK]

Paying attention, being aware, and staying defensive at all times behind the wheel saves more lives than any part or safety device alone in a vehicle, imo.

 

[TechnoWeenie]

Paying attention, being aware, and staying defensive at all times behind the wheel saves more lives than any part or safety device alone in a vehicle, imo.

2 days ago had some nutjob going 100+ on the highway. Saw him coming up in my mirrors and knew he was going way too fast and couldn't stop. I KNEW he was gonna try and cut in between cars, with him not realizing that gaps change/close as cars move different speeds. He never even slowed down, and I basically had to panic brake the second he got into my blind spot because he wasn't slowing down and he literally had nowhere to go. Sure as %^&*, dude tries to cut across in front of me, missing the front of my car, and the rear of the car in the lane next to me by inches...

Sad thing is, it'll probably just boost his ego and make him think he can get away with even more ^$#@... I would have essentially PITted him into a wall at over 100 MPH, but this clown is gonna think his 'great skill' saved him.

Part of me just wants to let things happen, but I don't know who/what else he would hit.

 

[98G]

Paying attention, being aware, and staying defensive at all times behind the wheel saves more lives than any part or safety device alone in a vehicle, imo.

Emphatically this!

No safety device will ever take the place of careful and competent operation.

Frequently "safety" devices will cause more problems than they prevent, especially if you get used to them being there and then suddenly they aren't.