Car crash injury: The Running Man 1982

maxrenn · Oct 31, 2015

I really like King's "The Running Man." It's one of the few books he's written with decent pacing. But there's one part that leaves me scratching my head.

Richards is in a car chase with the police. The driver heads for a bridge, Richards realises that the police will easily catch them in a straight line race, he grabs the wheel and the car goes flying into an alley and crashes. It doesn't specify what the car crashes into, maybe a wall, a post, a stairway, or a particularly heavy dumpster, who knows?

Here's the fun part. Richards walks out of the car with little more then a broken nose, the driver however is impaled on the steering column. Now from what I know about car crashes this can happen when there's enough force to cause the steering wheel to break off the column and thus impalement ensues.

This is where I think wtf... The driver manages to drive off alone and distract the police.
How can you damage a car enough to impale yourself on the steering column yet still have the car be in a usable condition to drive?
Can a steering wheel be easily re-attached by a seriously wounded man?

*Note: The book was written in 81/82 so car's wouldn't have had as much hi-tech safety measures like they do today.

King Neptune · Oct 31, 2015

The driver wouldn't have been able to drive, and the car wouldn't have been drivable. King messed up. He should have had the car make it into an alley without any trouble; people do that regularly.

maxrenn · Oct 31, 2015

Is there any way the driver could damage himself enough, to consider himself "done for" yet still leave the car in a usable condition.

In Mad Max 1979 one of the cops cuts his throat open on the windshield after a crash and ends up with a voicebox later on.

Adversary · Nov 2, 2015

Brainfart, by the sound of it. American cars went to collapsible columns at one point (around that time or vaguely so) and the big puffy wheels with airbags well later. Being written in '81, it could have been an older car at the time. Old cars, classics, could be deathtraps in certain scenarios. The wheels were thin and made of (essentially) wire, and would collapse and leave the driver with this big steel shaft that did not give. Old cars were generally pretty damn tough, but the interiors could be deadly to an unrestrained body, and proper restraints back then were still in the rudiment stage. Any accident bad enough to collapse a steering wheel is enough to wreck the car.

I actually read that one, but decades ago. I forget what happens. But any accident that impales the driver will easily send the passenger through the windshield, or at very minimum have him headbutt the dash (which were made of harder and harder material the further back you go... still actual metal in the '60's for some models) if he's wearing a lap belt. If he's not... good luck.

But isn't this one taking place in the future? As in, well beyond where we currently are? If so, who knows what he'd be driving. No car with airbags (generally phasing in by the early '90's) will impale the driver. Chances are Richards would be driving a car that King couldn't even fathom in '81. Heh... go easy on the guy...

On your second post/question, the older the car, the better the chances (of driver getting hurt, but the car not). New cars need to sustain a lot of damage before the occupant gets it bad, yet the car itself is quickly toast. Old cars, say, 70's or older, were big tanks, made of metal, and did not 'give' in accidents like new cars do. '60's and '50's cars were even tougher, but the further back you go, the scarier it gets for someone inside the car. Columns that didn't collapse (with steering wheels that did), no shoulder belts (or poorly designed ones with no give'), lots of metal interior parts, and again, in the '60's or earlier, even the dashboards were bare metal in some, earlier cars had very hard steering wheels, metal interior panels, keys on dashboards instead of columns (these could split the kneecap if you slid forward), older cars yet didn't even have safety glass... so you could be shredded going through them. You could have all kinds of gruesome damage inside while still being able to get back in, turn the key and continue on. Check out REAL demo-derbies ('70's or older cars), those beasts could sustain incredible damage and still run. I could play Grand Theft Auto with my 68 Cadillac and make it across town disabling new cars at every corner (without necessarily hurting the occupants), and as long as i'm properly strapped in and minding the interior details i'll be just fine.

maxrenn · Nov 2, 2015

Richards is in the passenger seat and breaks his nose on the dash; must have been fastened in.

The story takes place in the early 21st century, but it's not very hi-tech, police are carrying sten guns for chrissakes.
The car is technically a hover car, but there's no reason it should be. It controls and acts the same as the wheel based cars chasing it.

There's definitely a lot of mistakes in the book, but the main question is "Can we injure the driver enough to consider himself done for, yet still have the car in a usable condition."

My throat cut idea probably wouldn't work since the guy wouldn't be able to speak.

BDSEmpire · Nov 3, 2015

You don't need a windshield to drive a car (though you'll wish you had one). One option is to have the driver get impaled on a pipe. Turn into the alleyway where some construction is going on and *squortch* there goes a 2" steel pipe through their face. The windshield will be wrecked and can shatter and spray glass into the interior for dramatic effect, though modern safety glass should hold onto most of the shards. Kick out the windshield, push the driver (who is currently pining for the fjords) out of the seat and your protagonist can drive away.

Sources:
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/...e/driver-impaled-on-2-inch-pipe-in-auto-crash
http://www.thegazette.com/subject/n...pipe-in-northwest-cedar-rapids-crash-20150304
http://www.9news.com/story/news/loc...riving-pole-impales-buttocks-thighs/14917831/

maxrenn · Nov 4, 2015

The driver has to survive for a little while. He drives off as a distraction and leaves Richards to go his own way on foot.

Something going through the windshield might work, but suddenly driving into a hanging pipe is a little otp. I never would of thought a fence could impale somebody, interesting link BDSEmpire. Trouble is how do we get the driver un-impaled from the fence?

Car crash injury: The Running Man 1982

maxrenn

King Neptune

maxrenn

Adversary

maxrenn

BDSEmpire

Kindly Bumpkin

maxrenn