I’m no engineer and obviously don’t understand physics very well, since I’m asking this question. But how can guard rails keep a car or semi truck driving 70+ MPH from leaving the road?
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If you put that guard rail in a huge parking lot, and have a car or semi truck drive 70 mph straight at it, it will likely disintegrate from the impact.
But on the highway, cars and trucks are driving alongside the guard rail, and if (for example) someone falls asleep they’ll veer into the guard rail at an angle. So cars and trucks are heavy, but still they’re “easing into” the guard rail, so to speak.
So a car / truck’s own steering system, its wheels, can “ease” it back onto the road, if that driver wakes up in time. The sideways force doesn’t have to be that great, it’s just a matter of “nudging” the car or truck back onto the road. That’s what guard rails do.
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