Submitted by beachgirlDE t3_zydhf5 in explainlikeimfive
In a recent accident near where I live, a minivan was broadsided and spun counterclockwise. 3 people were not wearing seatbelts and were ejected, all 3 died.
Is it the force of the hit combined with the spin that caused the ejection?
manurosadilla t1_j257fba wrote
Inertia is the answer. When the car stops, anything that isn’t the car will keep going at the speed it was going previously. A body hitting a windshield at 70mph will break it. In spin outs, the inertia still acts on the unsecured bodies but we call it centrifugal force. Kind of like a washer doing a spin cycle flings the clothes to the edge of the drum.