The guy who wrote that article should be fired:

An Oxford man amazingly survived with minor injuries after a guardrail nearly split his car in half on Governor's Hill Road Monday night.

No. The driver nearly split his car in half with a guard rail. The guard rail was the stationary object.

It looks to me like it just ripped off the hood and went through the windshield. I don't see much "splitting" going on in that picture.

Mythbusters!

Why was the end of the rail exposed to begin with?

I'd say the guard rail did it's job pretty darned good. It stopped this maniac, didn't it?

ChipNASA: Amature.....

[bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com image 620x403]

A mature what?

should have had one of these



/hot

the guardrail worked fine. It protected those innocent trees from bad drivers.

No, subby, you are correct!

Everyone knows that THIS is how guardrails are supposed to work!

Oh, and THIS TOO! :D

Benjimin_Dover: Why was the end of the rail exposed to begin with?

Looks like it had the old type end treatment on it. Those didn't do much to keep this from happening (we called it "spearing"), which is why new end treatments have been developed to replace the old ones.

/highway design engineer
//don't use those old end treatments any more

Another non-standard use of a guardrail.

Link

This is why the first 5-10 moorings for guardrails are typically made out of wood while the rest are made out of metal- so that the first part of the guardrail will crumple against your car rather than the other way around.

Either this guy got extremely unlucky or this guardrail wasn't built that way.

Maybe this is an improvement on guardrail design. A couple horrific accidents and people will take driving a bit more seriously.

Yup. I knew a guy who died that way. Or was it the alcohol.

/intentionally preachy

2CountyFairs: Another non-standard use of a guardrail.

Link

That kid lived in that wreck BTW.

Guardrails are typically for stopping vehicles from going down embankments or crossing into on coming traffic.


Looks like neither happened so job well done!

ChipNASA: 2CountyFairs: Another non-standard use of a guardrail.

Link

That kid lived in that wreck BTW.

Well, the roof still looks waterproof and I bet the people in that farmhouse behind him would let him use their bathroom, so why not?

On a steel rail he rides.

That pole looks well guarded to me.

I hate those style guard rails.

Often the top edge, even though it is curled away, is very sharp and rusty. I hate bicycling along them, knowing if I am forced into the guardrail by some random rock or errant driver, I'm going to be in a world of rusty slicy hurt.

stpauler:
No. The driver nearly split his car in half with a guard rail. The guard rail was the stationary object.

If it's only about which object is moving, then why not "The driver's car nearly split itself in half with a guard rail"?

Thanks for calling them "guard" rails, Subby. It irks me to no end that the current manufacturers have taken to calling them "guide" rails, as if they were supposed to politely suggest the proper direction of travel to wandering vehicles.

And you know it's not because that's the design goal- it's some stupid liability lawyer's idea that "if we call them 'guard' rails and they don't actually 'guard" vehicles from harm when they're supposed to, we could get sued. Change the name and pretend it's been that way all along!"

danielscissorhands: No, subby, you are correct!

Everyone knows that THIS is how guardrails are supposed to work!

Oh, and THIS TOO! :D


What... how... that doesn't even make sense...

How the FARK can a CAR wind up BALANCED on a GUARDRAIL?!?!?

They're doing it wrong. They're not guard rails, they're guide rails. They just didn't gently apply the side of the vehicle so you can catch a few ZZzs while travelling to your destination.

/Raver Savers!

Obvious consequence of cars getting lower to the ground over the years?

/Can't stop stupid no matter how hard you try.

stpauler: The guy who wrote that article should be fired:

An Oxford man amazingly survived with minor injuries after a guardrail nearly split his car in half on Governor's Hill Road Monday night.

No. The driver nearly split his car in half with a guard rail. The guard rail was the stationary object.

Thank You

Just right

Most of the guardrails here curve and bolt to the ground now. A car will ride up on it instead of getting speared.

washington-babylon: danielscissorhands: No, subby, you are correct!

Everyone knows that THIS is how guardrails are supposed to work!

Oh, and THIS TOO! :D


What... how... that doesn't even make sense...

How the FARK can a CAR wind up BALANCED on a GUARDRAIL?!?!?

Good question. Did you watch both videos?

Skyfrog: Most of the guardrails here curve and bolt to the ground now. A car will ride up on it instead of getting speared.

They've even stopped installing those here because they cause the car to flip or become airborne. Now on the 'front' side [the side facing incoming traffic], they have a rectangular plate with black and yellow stripes, and they are designed to fold up like a crumple zone.

danielscissorhands: washington-babylon: danielscissorhands: No, subby, you are correct!

Everyone knows that THIS is how guardrails are supposed to work!

Oh, and THIS TOO! :D


What... how... that doesn't even make sense...

How the FARK can a CAR wind up BALANCED on a GUARDRAIL?!?!?

Good question. Did you watch both videos?

Yes, but with no audio. Did they describe the way in which the cars managed to roost in such precarious positions for the night?

I like how the article says he "lost consciousness." And that recent surgery may have caused him to lose said consciousness.

The police bought it, anyway.

Wonder how this losing consciousness thing will affect his insurance rates.

I'd say this kind of thing happens more often than you would think. I had a friend who slide into a guard rial sideways, rail went through passengers and drivers door cutting off his legs.

Consult the experts.

/blast hardcheese