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?
In: 3739
“Surviving a car accident by being relaxed” is a huge misconception. Drunk drivers often fare well because they (drunkenly) drive into other vehicles and are protected by the whole front of their car which is meant to absorb impacts. Their victims do worse because they’re getting hit on the side of the vehicle, which offers less protection. Also, plenty of drunk drivers die horribly, it just isn’t made as public because nobody is going to prosecute a corpse for DUI. When the drunk driver survives and the other victim dies, there are lots of headlines about it.
If you’re in a potentially fatal car/plane accident, the forces involved are so far beyond what your body can generate that it really doesn’t matter how tense or relaxed you are. The crash landing position on a plane is meant to reduce your head suddenly swinging forward and causing a major brain/spine injury.
Latest Answers