Not all crashes occur in slow motion

Sandy Christmus said:

I've always heard that when some people are having an accident (car, bike, etc.) that it seems
like time slows down. Well, I can tell you for a fact, that when you're taking a right-hand turn
on a humid, wet morning, that time cruises along just fine as your tires go left and you go right
and down. One second I was making the turn as I do every morning, and the next second I'm skidding
toward the double yellow line on my chin and knee. I survived and the car that was tailgating me
on the turn actually stopped and didn't finish me off. Time didn't slow and I can't replay the
accident in my head in slow motion. Maybe it's better. Kinda like ripping off a Band-Aid, as
opposed to slowly peeling it off.

The slow motion effect is in fact a high speed photography mode in which mental activity
accelerates to a higher baud rate. This enables people to solve emergency problems (threats) when
they arise. I don't think the absence of the slow motion effect is to your advantage. It may be a
sign of age. I don't know your age but I think most people have the ability at youth, the time we
hear about it the most.

Jobst Brandt [email hidden] Palo Alto CA

In article 09U3b.18761$Go4.10537@lakeread01 said:

One second I was making the turn as I do every morning, and the next second I'm skidding toward
the double yellow line on my chin and knee.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I guess that saved your gloves from getting shredded ;-)

Chances are it was all within the same second. You just didn't get any time for adrenalin to start
doing its thing, giving you that split-second mental acuity that gives that slow-motion effect. You
were probably pancaked on the ground before you could even blink.

Quoted message said:

Time didn't slow and I can't replay the accident in my head in slow motion.

Yeah, it's kinda like slipping on ice while afoot. Except for the forward momentum part. Suddenly ya
find yerself on the ground, wondering how ya got there. A most unnerving sensation.

Quoted message said:

Maybe it's better. Kinda like ripping off a Band-Aid, as opposed to slowly peeling it off.

Maybe it's six of one, a half-dozen of the other. Both ways hurt. It's just an Hobson's choice.

Anyhow, I'm glad you lived to tell the tale, and to ride again.

How's the bike?

Any idea what your front wheel lost it on? Wet manhole cover? Leaves?

cheers, & heal quickly,
Tom

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[point] bc [point] ca

I've had a selection of crashes - in two of them I was on the ground before I had time to think. In
both cases ice was involved and the bike and I fell over before I could take any action. In one case
the ice was black - and undetectable against tarmac - in the other the ice was in a puddle - and
again wasn't obvious.

It sounds as if your crash had similar features - I'm pleased the car managed to stop.

regards Kirby

In article <[email hidden]>, "Kirby James"

Quoted message said:

I've had a selection of crashes - in two of them I was on the ground before I had time to think.

It doesn't even need ice. I've seen posts here before, from ppl who seem to think the
bike-steering-out-from-underneath-you type of fall is a simple toppling-over.

To those ppl, I want to assert that it isn't. It's more like a judo flip. One is slammed earthward
with astonishing speed, as you, yourself, realize.

Anyone who has wiped out on RR tracks, metal stuff in the road, ice, wet leaves, or slippery paint
can attest to that.

I guess it's just stuff we might have to deal with.

cheers, Tom

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Sandy Christmus said:

I've always heard that when some people are having an accident (car, bike, etc.) that it seems like
time slows down.

I've had both.

I broke my shoulder in a mountain bike crash where it seemed as if I could have cooked breakfast in
the time it took for the motion to stop.

I crashed a road bike on wet, oily railroad tracks and I was sitting on the pavement wondering
what happened.

Barry

In article <09U3b.18761$Go4.10537@lakeread01>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I've always heard that when some people are having an accident (car, bike, etc.) that it seems
like time slows down. Well, I can tell you for a fact, that when you're taking a right-hand turn
on a humid, wet morning, that time cruises along just fine as your tires go left and you go right
and down. One second I was making the turn as I do every morning, and the next second I'm skidding
toward the double yellow line on my chin and knee. I survived and the car that was tailgating me
on the turn actually stopped and didn't finish me off. Time didn't slow and I can't replay the
accident in my head in slow motion. Maybe it's better. Kinda like ripping off a Band-Aid, as
opposed to slowly peeling it off.

Sandy

I thank the slow motion crashes really slow, i.e. within the realm of human perception. It's those
other ones that are only int he realm of a humming birds perception that seem like they go from
start to finish in the span of a rifle shot. That's how my one bike/car accident was. Riding along,
then BANG! on my back in the ditch with no inner mind video of any of it fromt he time the fender
appeared in front of me. Now this one time I got hit head on by this handicapped guy riding a
motorcycle illegally, that seemed like it took five minutes from the time I saw him until I was hit.
--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia ramsays-online.comramsays-online.comOpen ↗

In article said:

Sandy Christmus said:

I've always heard that when some people are having an accident (car, bike, etc.) that it seems
like time slows down.

I've had both.

I broke my shoulder in a mountain bike crash where it seemed as if I could have cooked breakfast
in the time it took for the motion to stop.

I crashed a road bike on wet, oily railroad tracks and I was sitting on the pavement wondering
what happened.

Barry

Same here! Last year, I also fell on railroad tracks. One second we were rolling along, the next
second BLAT! I was lying on my side (I imagine those whirly lines over my head like in comics and
birds tweeting). It seemed to happen in a split second.

Later in the season, last october, I was hit by a car at an intersection. The car wasn't going fast.
It seemed to happen really slowly, and I remember thinking. "That car isn't going to stop. It's
going to hit me." Then I steeled myself thinking ,"I hope it doesn't hurt TOO much." And then when
the car hit me, I thought,aside from OUCH!, "That was really an error in judgement. I really
misjudged that intersection." (I don't like that intersection AND it was rush hour). The front of
the car seemed to be advancing toward me really slowly. Then when I was lying on the ground I
thought, "Oh [censored]! I'm in the middle of this busy intersection and my bike AND me could get run
over!" SO I jumped up and ran, dragging my bike to the curb. Then everything was normal speed. It's
funny how you remember exactly what you thought, and it all happens in just a few seconds.

The same thing happened when I nearly drowned in the ocean in maine. I got bowled over by this wave,
and I got knocked against something and the pain made me suck in water. I remember thinking, "This
is it. Major ranch purchase." And then I thought, "Why don't I see all that white light and tunnel
they always tell you about?" And then, I thought, "Maybe it's not my turn yet." At one point I
remember opening my eyes and seeing all these green bubbles. Then my sister grabbed me by the seat
of my bathing suit and yanked me up. ONce again, the whole thing probably happened in a minute, but
it seemed to happen in slow motion and I remember everything I thought!

As for the bike accident, no major injuries, hurt my back and broke a small bone in my hand.ANd yes,
the bike was okay but needed a new wheel.

Tom Keats said:

snip

How's the bike?

Any idea what your front wheel lost it on? Wet manhole cover? Leaves?

Thanks for the note, Tom. The bike's fine, luckily. I've got a couple of smoothed edges on my hoods,
where there were pointed areas, but, other than that, no probs. I don't think I actually lost the
wheel on anything in particular. The road was a little moist and the morning was very, very humid. I
think the asphalt was just a bit slick. You can bet I took the turn a bit more carefully this
morning:-)

Sandy

Sandy Christmus <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<09U3b.18761$Go4.10537@lakeread01>...

I crashed a few weeks ago.

I had the slow-mo effect as I was thrown over the handlebars. things sped up a LOT once I'd hit
pavement though.

Although I do remember a very embarrassing day once at baseball practice in high school. I'd
forgotten my cleats, and was playing in flat shoes; the basepaths were muddy. One second there I was
going for all I was worth towards first base. Someone yells; I try and stretch it to a double.

Suddenly I'm tumbling through space, wondering where the ground was.

(Come to think of it, that was a slow-mo moment, too: I felt like I was spinning for ages before I
managed to fall down. The other guys were laughing pretty hard--apparently it was quite an
impressive wipeout)

-Luigi

(Luigi de Guzman) said:

Although I do remember a very embarrassing day once at baseball practice in high school. I'd
forgotten my cleats, and was playing in flat shoes; the basepaths were muddy. One second there I
was going for all I was worth towards first base. Someone yells; I try and stretch it to a double.

Suddenly I'm tumbling through space, wondering where the ground was.

I had a similar occurrence back in the early 60s. I spend all summer working on my uncle's land
chopping down trees and leveling a building site, to save up for my size 14 cleats.

On the way to our first game, an away game, I suddenly remembered I'd left them in the locker. The
game was 60 miles from home, so there was no turning back. The first play I was involved in, I
slipped and fell -- onto a pack of guys as the whistle was blowing, and was ejected for "piling
on".......

Barry Burke Jr. said:

I've had both.

Quoted message said:

I broke my shoulder in a mountain bike crash where it seemed as if I could have cooked breakfast
in the time it took for the motion to stop.

Quoted message said:

I crashed a road bike on wet, oily railroad tracks and I was sitting on the pavement wondering
what happened.

In that case, I suspect you had a light concussion which does a memory erase for the last couple of
seconds to even longer, depending on the severity.

Jobst Brandt [email hidden] Palo Alto CA

<[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Sandy Christmus said:

I've always heard that when some people are having an accident (car, bike, etc.) that it seems
like time slows down. Well, I can tell you for a fact, that when you're taking a right-hand turn
on a humid, wet morning, that time cruises along just fine as your tires go left and you go
right and down. One second I was making the turn as I do every morning, and the next second I'm
skidding toward the double yellow line on my chin and knee. I survived and the car that was
tailgating me on the turn actually stopped and didn't finish me off. Time didn't slow and I
can't replay the accident in my head in slow motion. Maybe it's better. Kinda like ripping off a
Band-Aid, as opposed to slowly peeling it off.

The slow motion effect is in fact a high speed photography mode in which mental activity
accelerates to a higher baud rate. This enables people to solve emergency problems (threats) when
they arise. I don't think the absence of the slow motion effect is to your advantage. It may be a
sign of age. I don't know your age but I think most people have the ability at youth, the time we
hear about it the most.

Jobst Brandt [email hidden] Palo Alto CA

i've had a few crashes in my time, during my first one i got the slow down effect. i guess i was
nine or ten or so, hotdogging like a moron with my feet up on the top tube and hit a bump sending
my rump (and me) backwards off the bike. i remember being horizontal in the air looking forward at
my feet and my bicycle seat thinking something like "if i try to get back on the bike, i'm going to
hit it and get hurt, otherwise i can just prepare myself for the fall and hope i don't land on
anything too hard." i did the latter and turned out OK. since then i've had a few diggers, fell on
my keys once, that hurt (permanent scar). i hit a patch of sand at a moderate speed and just
scraped up my hands on another occasion. hit a tree at high speed on an XC trail, got spun around
and landed on my side (wear a helmet fairy winks and nods in my general direction). on a downhill,
riding well behind my seat hit a ditch and took the back end of my seat to my upper thigh just
missing my tender vittles (wear a cup fairy scowls at another permanent scar). riding home from the
library one night with far too many books in my pack (hooray for college) overestimated my loaded
handling capabilities and hit a curb. i went over the bars and landed on my back in perfect
position to see my bike fly over me about six feet in the air. anyhow, in none of those crashes did
i go into slow motion. i did however cuss loudly after each one. talking about crashes is fun,
crashing is not. alfred

Sandy Christmus <[email hidden]> wrote in news:09U3b.18761$Go4.10537@lakeread01:

Quoted message said:

I've always heard that when some people are having an accident (car, bike, etc.) that it seems
like time slows down. Well, I can tell you for a fact, that when you're taking a right-hand turn
on a humid, wet morning, that time cruises along just fine as your tires go left and you go right
and down. One second I was making the turn as I do every morning, and the next second I'm skidding
toward the double yellow line on my chin and knee. I survived and the car that was tailgating me
on the turn actually stopped and didn't finish me off. Time didn't slow and I can't replay the
accident in my head in slow motion. Maybe it's better. Kinda like ripping off a Band-Aid, as
opposed to slowly peeling it off.

Sandy

You know, those lines on the road get real slick when they are wet. Any kind of fog/moisture in the
air (even if it doesn't show on the ground) can make them extremely unsafe. Whenever it's foggy use
extreme care when making turns. The reason time didn't seem to slow down for you is that by time you
realized what was happening you were already screwed. Time slowing down would have made no
difference one way or another.

"Mr. E. Mann" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Sandy Christmus <[email hidden]> wrote in news:09U3b.18761$Go4.10537@lakeread01:

Quoted message said:

I've always heard that when some people are having an accident (car, bike, etc.) that it seems
like time slows down. Well, I can tell you for a fact, that when you're taking a right-hand turn
on a humid, wet morning, that time cruises along just fine as your tires go left and you go
right and down. One second I was making the turn as I do every morning, and the next second I'm
skidding toward the double yellow line on my chin and knee. I survived and the car that was
tailgating me on the turn actually stopped and didn't finish me off. Time didn't slow and I
can't replay the accident in my head in slow motion. Maybe it's better. Kinda like ripping off a
Band-Aid, as opposed to slowly peeling it off.

Sandy

The reason time didn't seem to slow down for you is that by

Quoted message said:

time you realized what was happening you were already screwed. Time

slowing

Quoted message said:

down would have made no difference one way or another.

I've had two serious accidents, one on a motorcycle the other in a car. In both cases, time really
did slow down. It was very weird and remarkable. Maybe the rule is "the slower the vehicle the
faster time flies when falling"! I've fallen from a bicycle many times but they've all happened in
real time.

I think it depends on whether or not you see it coming. If you see it coming, one of your body's
interesting defense mechanisms seems to be an ability to cram a ton of reactions into a short time
frame (some conscious reactions, some reflex). When you reflect on it after the fact, it seems like
a long time transpired because of all the things you did and experienced in an instant.

11 months ago I got creamed by an oncoming car. I replay the slo-mo video in my head daily. I saw it
coming and took a zillion small actions to try to avoid what turned out to be unavoidable. I can
recall all the thoughts, actions, reactions, sights, sounds ... everything. I can recall all that
better than I can recall the days in the hospital and all the rehab.

Conversely, several years before I was in a crash crossing wet RR tracks. I didn't expect it. I
didn't see it coming. Boom ... I was down and my left kneecap was broken in two. Similar long
recovery and all, but no slo-mo memory of the incident. I didn't see it coming.

Just my two cents. Bob C. "Mr. E. Mann" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Sandy Christmus <[email hidden]> wrote in news:09U3b.18761$Go4.10537@lakeread01:

Quoted message said:

I've always heard that when some people are having an accident (car, bike, etc.) that it seems
like time slows down. Well, I can tell you for a fact, that when you're taking a right-hand turn
on a humid, wet morning, that time cruises along just fine as your tires go left and you go
right and down. One second I was making the turn as I do every morning, and the next second I'm
skidding toward the double yellow line on my chin and knee. I survived and the car that was
tailgating me on the turn actually stopped and didn't finish me off. Time didn't slow and I
can't replay the accident in my head in slow motion. Maybe it's better. Kinda like ripping off a
Band-Aid, as opposed to slowly peeling it off.

Sandy

You know, those lines on the road get real slick when they are wet. Any kind of fog/moisture in
the air (even if it doesn't show on the ground)

can

Quoted message said:

make them extremely unsafe. Whenever it's foggy use extreme care when making turns. The reason
time didn't seem to slow down for you is that by time you realized what was happening you were
already screwed. Time

slowing

Quoted message said:

down would have made no difference one way or another.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I think it depends on whether or not you see it coming. If you see it coming, one of your body's
interesting defense mechanisms seems to be an ability to cram a ton of reactions into a short time
frame (some conscious reactions, some reflex). When you reflect on it after the fact, it seems
like a long time transpired because of all the things you did and experienced in an instant.

11 months ago I got creamed by an oncoming car. I replay the slo-mo video in my head daily. I saw
it coming and took a zillion small actions to try to avoid what turned out to be unavoidable. I
can recall all the thoughts, actions, reactions, sights, sounds ... everything. I can recall all
that better than I can recall the days in the hospital and all the rehab.

Conversely, several years before I was in a crash crossing wet RR tracks. I didn't expect it. I
didn't see it coming. Boom ... I was down and my left kneecap was broken in two. Similar long
recovery and all, but no slo-mo memory of the incident. I didn't see it coming. Just my two
cents. Bob C.

That discussion makes sense (more than two of them, too!). My wipeout last spring was one I saw
coming, so video camera in my brain cranked up to about 10000 frames per second, and after it was
over (with just a minor road rash on my hip, thankfully), I could replay the entire thing in my
mind, including several frames while falling as well as the preceeding sequence of events.

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