Gothamist: Did a Hose Cause a 20-Car Pile-Up?

bklynd

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 13:44:19 -0500

Yeah, this is part of the resurfacing of the Gowanus, which has closed-off segments of it for more than a year. It's actually kind of cool to watch them make progress, and a finished Gowanus now seems like a great reward rather than the crappy PITA is really is. After they pour the concrete they run a sprinkler system over it - it sprays the whole highway. Leaving it on overnight was a big fuckup.

DaveH

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 10:41:43 -0500

The fragility of newer cars is more a consequence of safety design than a lack of durability. Cars today are meant to absorb and disperse the force of an impact with as little transferrance to passengers as possible. Crumple zones and other features that slow the deceleration of a passenger in a crash are as valuable as seatbelts and airbags for passenger safety. This can make cars seem deceptively flimsy, but it's actually a purposeful goal of protecting passengers over vehicle.

will.xls

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 10:37:03 -0500

Man-bear-pig left the hose on.

Aristocrat

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 10:31:15 -0500

Peter, I equate 'minor damage' with fender bender-type damage: dings, broken lights, bent fenders. Aren't you assuming that the "damage" you see on the cars is the only damage on the vehicles? Who knows if the cars you see haven't been submerged in water, have broken axles/frames, etc.

Peter

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 09:41:24 -0500

While the damage to the cars was minor Cars today are built in a way that makes "minor damage" a wholly obsolete concept. Repairing anything but the most trivial physical damage is impossible. There are several large commercial scrap yards in the Long Island town were I live and it's common to see flatbed trucks carrying totalled cars to their final resting places. You cannot even begin to imagine how little damage many of these cars have. It's a complete waste and probably speaks volumes about what a wasteful, throwaway society we've become.