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Engineer saves man by crashing into him on purpose

seattletimes.nwsource.com

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Re: Engineer saves man by crashing into him on purpose

#31

Post by IgorPartola »

mey wrote: post #19
frossie wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hell, sometimes I even love companies. The insurance company could have said "hey you chose to be rear ended". Instead they paid up without quibbling and called him a hero in the process.

Imagine what the insurance would have had to pay out if Pace had not been stopped, T-boned a car in an intersection (mentioned in the article) and killed one or more people. The insurance company would be paying out a bit more then a smashed window and bent bumpers. Insurance if anyone understands risk mitigation. But I agree, they could have been assholes about it, but instead took the honorable route.

I am sure that they thought that it would be a great PR moment. Not that it should detract from their actions. Now I can place all of their ads and commercials in the context of their response to this incident.

Re: Engineer saves man by crashing into him on purpose

#33

Post by ynniv »

astrofinch wrote: post #32

I don't understand how this worked. If Pace's foot was still on the accelerator, wouldn't it be difficult to get his truck to slow down?

Yes. Impossible? No. The force that your car is capable of exerting on your tires is far less than the engine is capable of producing. You can see this in performance stats, where 100 to 0 braking always takes much less time than 0 to 100 acceleration. We don't generally quote braking power for cars, but given the increasing attention to safety it is much higher now than it has been historically.

Of course, this would not work well if the other vehicle was substantially heavier (best indicated by the number and size of tires). You would have a difficult time stopping a tractor trailer with a minivan, possibly causing your brakes to fail or your tires to melt.

Re: Engineer saves man by crashing into him on purpose

#34

Post by gabea »

astrofinch wrote: post #32

I don't understand how this worked. If Pace's foot was still on the accelerator, wouldn't it be difficult to get his truck to slow down?

I agree. That part confused me a bit. Was Pace's foot on the accelerator when Innes got out of the car to check on him as well?

Re: Engineer saves man by crashing into him on purpose

#35

Post by laut »

astrofinch wrote: post #32

I don't understand how this worked. If Pace's foot was still on the accelerator, wouldn't it be difficult to get his truck to slow down?

Have you ever driven a car with a manual transmission and tried to set off with the handbrake pulled? Brakes can bring a car to standstill even fighting the engine.

The brakes in the SUV in front are dimensioned for that SUV and I assume those brakes are not worse than the ones in the truck behind it.

Re: Engineer saves man by crashing into him on purpose

#36

Post by jgrahamc »

Xurinos wrote: post #16
zdw wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If my math is right, the kinentic energy of 2 ton vehicle going 40 MPH is roughly equivalent to 70kg of TNT. That's the kind of fire this guy was playing with, for his life, the life of his family, the life of the other driver and all the bystanders. Not to understate his heroism, but had this gone horribly wrong he'd probably be a Darwin award candidate.

I pray I never fear to make the decision to save someone's life, all risks reasonably considered. I have been in a similar situation, and I can tell you: your mettle is tested. You have a tiny amount of time to make a decision, so little that it almost comes down to your instincts. You have enough time to make an assessment of what kind of fallout is about to occur for all parties involved, and your main concern is,…

Very true comment. I did CPR on a guy in the street a few days ago. I'm sure it wasn't perfect, but I'm now told that the guy didn't die.

http://blog.jgc.org/2010/10/you-never-think-youll-have-to-do...

In the OP the guy used the information he had to make a fast decision. The toughest thing in the situation I encountered was the moment I realized his heart had stopped and needed to decide right then to take action.

Re: Engineer saves man by crashing into him on purpose

#37

Post by sp4rki »

cryptoz wrote: post #23

This is an incredible story. But I think it's important for everyone to remember the context of who this hero is. He manages the F22 fighter jet program at Boeing. That means that he's in charge of building gigantic killing machines that are only built so that they can be used to kill or threaten to kill human beings. This man did an incredible thing on the road and I'm not trying to diminish that. But he's not a 100…

So you neglect that lives that might be saved by building the F22, because they might also be used to kill people. I can kill someone with my car, so by definition Lexus is an evil company and you'd be wrong to work with them? A gun might save your life someday... I'm pretty sure my neighbor agrees with me on that one with the bunch of thieves he has brought to justice (not killed).

Re: Engineer saves man by crashing into him on purpose

#39

Post by lotharbot »

phr wrote: post #29

Several comments mention the upcoming intersection as if crossing traffic were likely. It is actually a classic cloverleaf. Search google maps for Renton Washington and look for highway 167, where the incident occurred, and its intersection with I-405. I haven't been over there for several months, so I'm not sure how up-to-date the satellite view is, but it looks right to me.

Grady Way is just a few hundred feet north of I-405, and it's a fairly busy (traditional) intersection.

Also, the concrete median the truck had bounced off of ends just before Grady Way. It's likely the guy would've either crossed traffic at Grady Way or moved into oncoming traffic. Either way, there's a high likelihood of serious injury or fatality stemming from an out-of-control vehicle moving through that intersection.

Re: Engineer saves man by crashing into him on purpose

#40

Post by Periodic »

gabea wrote: post #34
astrofinch wrote: post #32

I don't understand how this worked. If Pace's foot was still on the accelerator, wouldn't it be difficult to get his truck to slow down?

I agree. That part confused me a bit. Was Pace's foot on the accelerator when Innes got out of the car to check on him as well?

Since the car was in gear I wouldn't be surprised if a slow and controlled breaking would cause the engine to stall.

He passed out because his circulation was poor, which I take to mean that his foot was resting on the accelerator, not that he was pushing it to floor.

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