Any protection if one manages to flip a non-armored humvee?

[Milcommoguy]

Yes, it was flipped in a control to get it started at speed. (45 MPH) Really not that fast when trying to keep up with today's traffic. When I first saw that video and others wrecked at Yermo... looking over the handful of 1/4x20 bolts holding windshield , B pillar, flimsy doors, etc. and I have an helmet top... I couldn't see any crumble zone except my head.

I told myself "convoy speeds for me" is fast enough. Happy to use the slow lane.

One can wave or flip the bird when passing. I'll be there, when I get there... with a smile, CAMO

 

[dmetalmiki]

Gawsh!...But then, I wouldn't wish to roll over in anything.
'Cepting my...Water Bed !.

 

[TechnoWeenie]

I had the unfortunate duty of retrieving data from a computer of a widow whose husband was killed in a HMMWV accident while deployed. It had just happened about 2 months before, and ALL the pictures of him, and essentially his life, was on that computer.... It was NOT pretty.. She was a wreck, and understandably so. Having to ask someone 'The automated data retrieval didn't work, I have to retrieve files manually, which means I have to view them, are you OK with that?' is not something I wanted to ask, especially when I wasn't expecting the autopsy results, among other things. What's even worse, is I worked with another guy that worked @ Dover on the mortuary team, and he saw stuff like that on the daily.. 6 degrees of separation.

 

[frank8003]

Well, If you don 't like somebody just give them a motorcycle and a six pack.

 

[springer1981]

Gawsh!...But then, I wouldn't wish to roll over in anything.

In 1984 I had a 1978 Datsun B210 that me and a friend were in. We were having a discussion about a particular corner in the road that was marked 15 mph. I said I could take that corner at 35 mph. The rest of the road was 35 mph. Although I made the corner we came out of it sideways and caught some ruts in the road and that flipped us. We rolled 1 and 3/4 times and came to rest on the passenger door. We climbed out my door after turning the car off as it was still running. We pushed on the roof and got the car rocking until we could push it over onto its wheels. We jumped in, started it up and drove away. The next day I used a sledge hammer to pound out the roof for head room. The amazing part, we didn't break any windows, lights or even the mirrors. All the fenders, doors and roof were dented up pretty good. I drove that car 6 weeks after I rolled it and it would still pass inspection.

That's the shortened version of the story. Even a crappy little car like that is way safer in a roll over. The doors have solid hinges and latches and close tight into a door jam. The window pillars, doors and unibody were all structural, etc.

It was an experience I never forgot, never want to do again, and wouldn't trade for anything. I don't think I would feel the same way about a Humvee rollover.

 

[dilvoy]

No problem...

Always wear your kevlar, keep your hands inside, CAMO

That video was made by a company that had some sort of roof system to sell. If you look closely it has a hard top, probably from a Hummer Four Man Pick up placed onto an M998. No mounting ears on the windshield for the front of the roof to attach too. Look for other non bolted parts of that roof and you will see how it came apart like that.

 

[MTVR]

The thing about having (or adding) a roll bar or roll cage to a vehicle that most people don't understand, is that in order for it to offer you a reasonable amount of protection, the main hoop needs to be within about 6" of your head. And if you conk your unprotected head on it in a crash, it likely will kill you.

That's why motorsports santioning organizations require helmets designed specifically for that purpose, 5 or 6 point driver harnesses, and specialized padding on any steel tubing that is close enough for the driver's helmet to contact.

 

[MTVR]

The M998s a wide truck but if one managed to flip one is there a non-intuitive procedure to follow -- like ducking below hood level?

That is completely divorced from reality- watch the video in this thread of the rollover at 45 mph, and you should realize that the forces involved are light-years beyond any human's ability to control where their body goes.

 

[MTVR]

The WORST thing you could do, would be to to not wear your seatbelt.

There is nothing energy-absorbing inside these vehicles- you could die even if you don't get ejected (although a LOT of unrestrained vehicle occupants are ejected).

You could die even if the vehicle doesn't roll over (rollovers represent a VERY small percentage of motor vehicle collisions).

You could die at little more than walking pace, if the vehicle is stopped suddenly from hitting something and you fly into the dash. I remember one case where a car rear-ended a stopped car at about 15 mph, and the unrestrained passenger died- his teeth were still in the dash.

A LOT of unrestrained vehicle occupants are ejected, and if you are ejected fully or partially, you will likely get splatted by having the vehicle land on you or roll over you, or by flying into some immovable object outside the vehicle.

I was a trained motor vehicle collision investigator by vocation, and have investigated countless motor vehicle collisions. My younger brother was an Advanced Life Support Paramedic. Neither one of us has ever seen someone die while properly wearing their seatbelt...