This is simply not true. Solar cars are made of composite materials and have composite or metal frames. These materials allow them to be extremely light but they are still very strong. I have personally seen the results of a lower speed rear end collision between an SUV and a solar car (solar car was stopped, SUV rear ended it). There was almost no damage - the SUV was stopped by the composite body of the car - it never even impacted the frame ebcause the body was so strong. The yale solar car has a carbon fiber lower shell with a kevlar top and a titanium frame surrounding the driver including a titanium roll cage. Other cars are built similarly.
Hitting an object with a combined speed of 120mph will destroy any car. The fact that the minivan wa only minimally damaged is just a testament to the fact that the solar car was light and didnt have the energy to damage the minivan. This is a GOOD thing - If it was a head on collision between two minivans, both drivers would probably have been killed.
If you can't see why heaviness is a bad quality for a vehicle tha is going to crash, just look at any train wreck. The trains are usually going less than 60mph and they do a LOT more damage when they collide because they are HEAVY.
That car was a prototype in th sense that it was a solar car. It was not a new car, though. UT has raced that car for many thousands of miles without incident. Before you blame the crash on the car's malfunction, you might think that maybe Andrew was swerving to avoid hitting something - like a kid running into the road. The fact that he "lost control" does not point to the car being uncontrollable.
> (or, god forbid, a band of experimental vehicles on public roads) in response to this.
Sorry - this was supposed to say:
(or, god forbid, a BAN of experimental vehicles on public roads) in response to this.
(quite a different meaning)
I am another member of the Yale team and would like to respond:
Commercial vehicles can rarely survive a 60 mph head on crash. In fact, I don't think it's possible; this is the equivalent of hitting a stationary object at 120mph.
This is not the first solar car collision with a regular vehicle. Many cars have been in accidents, but this is the first time someone has died and the second time someone was injured in any serious way. And this is over 20 years of solar racing. I think this only highlights how safe these cars are. Every solar car has 5 point restraints, roll cages, drivers wear crash helmets, and because of the car's light weight, they carry much less kinetic energy when they hit something (they stop much easier). I don't want to sound callous, but two serious incidents in 20 years of solar racing is not that bad of a track record for any racing sport.
The research of solar race-cars is not towards the end of making better vehicles for the general public. It is a sport that promotes environmentally safe, alternative-energy vehicles. It also is a chance for college students to learn hands on what engineering is all about and to apply their studies in a fun way. One thing solar racing is not is practical. And one thing that is certain is that it is impossible to be practical on only 2kW of power (roughly 2.5hp). These cars function only because they are ultra-light and have extremely low aerodynamic resistance. The sun simply does not put out enough power to make the cars larger and heavier and still have them drive over 30mph.
In the end, I suspect that the rules and standards we follow we become stricter because of this accident. This may or may not be misguided, though; no car is designed to withstand a 60mph head on collision. And even if they could be, no human body could handle that kind of deceleration anyway. Whenever things like this happen, then reaction of the public and lawmakers tends toward changing rules in insane ways to ensure that this never happens again: (i.e. if someone is burned by a firework, they want to ban fireworks). I could see new rules coming out of this tragedy limiting speeds of solar cars to 40mph or some such thing. Some might even go so far as to say driving any vehicle 60mph is too dangerous. These "knee-jerk" reactions are illogical and unfortunate. Risk is a fact of life.
Again, I don't mean to sound callous. I just don't want to see needlessly restrictive rules created (or, god forbid, a band of experimental vehicles on public roads) in response to this.
Slashdot Mirror
This is simply not true. Solar cars are made of composite materials and have composite or metal frames. These materials allow them to be extremely light but they are still very strong. I have personally seen the results of a lower speed rear end collision between an SUV and a solar car (solar car was stopped, SUV rear ended it). There was almost no damage - the SUV was stopped by the composite body of the car - it never even impacted the frame ebcause the body was so strong. The yale solar car has a carbon fiber lower shell with a kevlar top and a titanium frame surrounding the driver including a titanium roll cage. Other cars are built similarly. Hitting an object with a combined speed of 120mph will destroy any car. The fact that the minivan wa only minimally damaged is just a testament to the fact that the solar car was light and didnt have the energy to damage the minivan. This is a GOOD thing - If it was a head on collision between two minivans, both drivers would probably have been killed. If you can't see why heaviness is a bad quality for a vehicle tha is going to crash, just look at any train wreck. The trains are usually going less than 60mph and they do a LOT more damage when they collide because they are HEAVY.
That car was a prototype in th sense that it was a solar car. It was not a new car, though. UT has raced that car for many thousands of miles without incident. Before you blame the crash on the car's malfunction, you might think that maybe Andrew was swerving to avoid hitting something - like a kid running into the road. The fact that he "lost control" does not point to the car being uncontrollable.
> (or, god forbid, a band of experimental vehicles on public roads) in response to this. Sorry - this was supposed to say: (or, god forbid, a BAN of experimental vehicles on public roads) in response to this. (quite a different meaning)
I am another member of the Yale team and would like to respond:
Commercial vehicles can rarely survive a 60 mph head on crash. In fact, I don't think it's possible; this is the equivalent of hitting a stationary object at 120mph.
This is not the first solar car collision with a regular vehicle. Many cars have been in accidents, but this is the first time someone has died and the second time someone was injured in any serious way. And this is over 20 years of solar racing. I think this only highlights how safe these cars are. Every solar car has 5 point restraints, roll cages, drivers wear crash helmets, and because of the car's light weight, they carry much less kinetic energy when they hit something (they stop much easier). I don't want to sound callous, but two serious incidents in 20 years of solar racing is not that bad of a track record for any racing sport.
The research of solar race-cars is not towards the end of making better vehicles for the general public. It is a sport that promotes environmentally safe, alternative-energy vehicles. It also is a chance for college students to learn hands on what engineering is all about and to apply their studies in a fun way. One thing solar racing is not is practical. And one thing that is certain is that it is impossible to be practical on only 2kW of power (roughly 2.5hp). These cars function only because they are ultra-light and have extremely low aerodynamic resistance. The sun simply does not put out enough power to make the cars larger and heavier and still have them drive over 30mph.
In the end, I suspect that the rules and standards we follow we become stricter because of this accident. This may or may not be misguided, though; no car is designed to withstand a 60mph head on collision. And even if they could be, no human body could handle that kind of deceleration anyway. Whenever things like this happen, then reaction of the public and lawmakers tends toward changing rules in insane ways to ensure that this never happens again: (i.e. if someone is burned by a firework, they want to ban fireworks). I could see new rules coming out of this tragedy limiting speeds of solar cars to 40mph or some such thing. Some might even go so far as to say driving any vehicle 60mph is too dangerous. These "knee-jerk" reactions are illogical and unfortunate. Risk is a fact of life.
Again, I don't mean to sound callous. I just don't want to see needlessly restrictive rules created (or, god forbid, a band of experimental vehicles on public roads) in response to this.