I have heard that if you tense or brace your body before a car accident you are more likely to be injured. Hence why drunk drivers often walk away unharmed because they just sort of flop around instead. So why is it that we are supposed to brace for impact?
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Bracing doesn’t kill you. Getting T-boned does. Impacting your face or torso very hard against part of the passenger compartment or having the compartment crushed around you is exceedingly lethal. Look at the injuries when people fall vs what ragdolling dummies get on shockwatch stickers? Mythbusters had multiple cases where falling speeds that weren’t even equivalent to second storey window (i.e. should be completely harmless if landed remotely well) tripped Buster’s 75 or 100 G shockwatch in both head and thorax.
Or just look at the injuries from falling off a bike with no helmet or tripping over your own feet, vs ragdolling in those situations. Difference been a serious concussion or even a broken rib or skull fracture vs some mild scuffed hands and knees.
Or look at how cats land a fall? They flip forward and shove their legs at the ground arching their strong backs. They try to put as much between their vitals and the thing they are colliding with as they can. That’s why cats survive >20 meter falls most of the time. A cat that just relaxed world hit its head and torso every time.
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