Ariel Atom Crash --- Bad One

[Needspeed]

Wow, glad everyone survived.

Question - Does the Atom have 4 pt or 6 pt harnesses in it? I would assume 6pt but I wonder if the driver and passenger had the anti-sub belt fastened while they were on the road?

[CosmosMpower]

No wonder...it has crappy A048's

[Randy Chase]

I find the stuck throttle explanation a little confusing. Wouldn't the brakes still stop the car? Better yet, put in the clutch and apply brakes? I guess I can see how a stuck throttle (been there done that) could throw you off and surprise you on a track and you could miss a braking point. But on the street?

Not really trying to second guess... just wondering.

[evomind]

Originally Posted by Randy Chase

I find the stuck throttle explanation a little confusing. Wouldn't the brakes still stop the car? Better yet, put in the clutch and apply brakes? I guess I can see how a stuck throttle (been there done that) could throw you off and surprise you on a track and you could miss a braking point. But on the street?

Not really trying to second guess... just wondering.

thats exactly what i was going to post....
stuck throttle in 3rd gear? that gear might indicate the driver had some room, which would also indicate the driver had time to put the clutch in....
im glad everyone is ok, thats most important, but im not sure i buy the stuck throttle story.

[Phantom]

Understeer?

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[tesprit]

Originally Posted by evomind

thats exactly what i was going to post....
stuck throttle in 3rd gear? that gear might indicate the driver had some room, which would also indicate the driver had time to put the clutch in....
im glad everyone is ok, thats most important, but im not sure i buy the stuck throttle story.

I agree, it would be better to just push in the clutch (who cares if the engine blows up at that point) and hit the brakes, but as they say hindsight is 20/20. It is possible the thought never crossed the drivers head and the only thing he was thinking about was the ensuing crash. It is strange what happens to people in these situations. Some lock up mentally and do nothing when the panic sets in. As you said, the main thing is they survived and no one else was involved in the crash.

[apk919]

Originally Posted by tesprit

I agree, it would be better to just push in the clutch (who cares if the engine blows up at that point) and hit the brakes, but as they say hindsight is 20/20. It is possible the thought never crossed the drivers head and the only thing he was thinking about was the ensuing crash. It is strange what happens to people in these situations. Some lock up mentally and do nothing when the panic sets in. As you said, the main thing is they survived and no one else was involved in the crash.

+1

I once had a stuck throttle cable on a Skip Barber car during a warm up lap at Sebring... it wasn't stuck wide open but at about 1/2 throttle; my first indication that something was wrong was that the brakes didn't seem to be working very well. Then I recognized the engine note (under load, not closed throttle), and finally pushed in the clutch. Luckily, there's lots of runoff at Sebring, and I only missed the exit by a few feet, mowing some grass.

It was not a pleasant experience... but could have been much worse.

[Bavarian Motorist]

Originally Posted by AtomFest

Actually the passenger received less injury than the driver. A broken leg and miscellaneous abraisions. Treated and released from the hospital. The driver received more serious injuries to his legs and will need reconstructive surgery. The car had just returned from significant repairs after an on-track incident. The driver reported that the throttle had sutck in 3rd gear.

Here's a link to his story: Pascal's Orange Atom's Sad Demise

I don't understand. If the throttle was stuck, why not just clutch in and jam the brakes? "Both feet in" as they say, and hell, even clutching in and shifting the neutral would work.


I don't know the story behind it. I suppose it's possible it the throttle stuck at a really bad time and the driver couldn't react in time.

[climb4fun]

Originally Posted by Phantom

Understeer?

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That's not understeer. He locked the front tires because of heavy braking therefore, he couldn't steer the car so the car went all the way straight.

he should turn the steering wheel to the left and release or ease up on the brake apply just before the turn.

Note: I just saw the 2nd video recorded from the camera next to the driver. He actually turn the steering wheel before the turn, but it was too late and the car was traveling too fast for that turn. I think even if he had ease-up on the brake, he would still missed the turn. Narrow 'Mont-Carlo style' street track and Way too fast and furious car!

[NMRJock]

Wow, that thing looked violently fast.

[climb4fun]

Originally Posted by Bavarian Motorist

I don't understand. If the throttle was stuck, why not just clutch in and jam the brakes? "Both feet in" as they say, and hell, even clutching in and shifting the neutral would work.

Easier to say than do.

I think he was surprised. It takes time to brain to process what went wrong and what's the best thing to do at this situation. Then, imagine the car was going full throttle toward a T intersection on the street without your command; most people panic and might not do anything at all.

[XPcarguy]

Originally Posted by AtomFest

Actually the passenger received less injury than the driver. A broken leg and miscellaneous abraisions. Treated and released from the hospital. The driver received more serious injuries to his legs and will need reconstructive surgery. The car had just returned from significant repairs after an on-track incident. The driver reported that the throttle had sutck in 3rd gear.

Here's a link to his story: Pascal's Orange Atom's Sad Demise

Was the clutch pedal stuck too?

[XPcarguy]

Originally Posted by NMRJock

If the engine doesn't deform it's not absorbing any of the impact. It just transfers the energy backward.

modern cars design the chassis to push the engine down and back in an impact. The resistance of the engine to break free does absorb some of the impact. As does the increased length of the chassis from driver's legs forward compared to a compact midengine car.

[Wasabi]

If the car had just been in for repairs over the same incident at the race track, then I think most people would be surprised to have the exact same thing happen after, I'm sure this affected his reaction time... he was probably busy thinking, no way it can't be, that's just crazy...

Whoever did the repair work needs to get sued really badly imho

[fitfan]

...or he crashed it at the track, got it back, and then crashed it on the street.

[xtn]

Originally Posted by climb4fun

That's not understeer. He locked the front tires because of heavy braking therefore, he couldn't steer the car so the car went all the way straight.

Uh... technically that's a form of understeer.

xtn

[cshama]

I hit a wall at 50mph in my atom and there were only minor injuries and much less damage to the car although the wall did collapse quickly. The car was a total write off however.

I was also in a crash in my elise, my fault this time, at lower speed.


I think I would prefer to hit a wall in an atom then an elise. But that is based on nothing but a gut feeling. The lack off glass shattering, air bags going off, the harness in the atom and a few other factors would make me prefer the atom.

The atom has a really strong cell and even at 40-50mph it held up well- I prefer a rolled steel cell rather then some cf .

On the other hand I think the atom is MUCH easier to crash- when the rear end goes it really goes.

[shinoo]

Originally Posted by Wasabi

If the car had just been in for repairs over the same incident at the race track, then I think most people would be surprised to have the exact same thing happen after, I'm sure this affected his reaction time... he was probably busy thinking, no way it can't be, that's just crazy...

Whoever did the repair work needs to get sued really badly imho

I visited the Ariel factory a coupla months ago and they actually conduct crash repairs to an extremely high level. If the factory fixed it, it was probably even better then when it originally left.......continuous improvement is part of the formula...

I'm about to drive my Atom to Reno-Fernley for a couple of track days. Looking at crash pix is never fun just before such an adventure...

[Hello Kitty]

I think it was understeer because if you look at the second picture, you can see sign's that tell you to go left, or right. The atom went straight.