This comes from one of my favorite newly discovered blogs: Straight Forward in a Crooked World. The name sais it all. Check them Out. -SF
One of the best weapons for getting out of a crisis isn’t necessarily a gun. A decent size vehicle, even one that may not run so fantastic has more versatility and overall practical use than a pistol…not that you can’t have both of course.
Faced with breaching a road block made from stationary vehicles a car makes a very serviceable battering ram. But like everything, there is a right way and a wrong way. Do it the right way and you not only surprise everyone, but you may also disable a few of the bad guys cars along the way. It just won’t won’t be in show room condition afterwards.
Do it wrong and you’re gonna have a bad case of whiplash from the impact and a bloody nose from the airbag for the next thirty seconds until someone rearranges your school girl beauty with a magazine full of copper.
So first things first: Hands on the wheel. Just like the old man said, hands at ten and two or at nine and three.
Why?
Should the airbag deploy while you ram through the barricade your hands are going to be knocked away from the steering wheel in approximately 60-80 milliseconds after the first moment of vehicle contact. When your hands are at 10/2 or 9/3 they get knocked back and out of the way, but not into you. This allows you to quickly recover and get back on the wheel.
If you hands are in the 12 O’clock position when the airbag is you’re going to break your nose, probably some fingers and maybe your face altogether. Why? Your hand is between the rapidly deploying airbag and your face. And airbags impact with some 200lbs of force, so instead of getting a face full of polyester goodness you get your own fist flying at you like Mike Tyson.
This applies on the beltway just as much as an evac out of Panama.
Your Fist+Your Face+Physics=Not good.
Ram through a barricade correctly and there is little likelihood that your airbag will actually deploy. Airbags are designed to open in frontal and near-frontal collisions that are of a severe nature. Think striking a parked car of similar size across the full front of each vehicle.
Car is a 3,000 pound bullet.
*Keep your thumbs next to you index fingers and not wrapped around the steering wheel, just in case the steering wheel violently snaps around. It could break your thumbs.
Newer cars… Airbags, anyone??