I’ve only been in one accident and my Dad was driving. A woman ran a stop sign and we nearly t-boned her, luckily my Dad was able to crank the wheel and we just hit her front side and careened into a field. I was in the back seat and when my Dad said “Oh shit, we’re gonna hit” I looked up between the seats, then after impact I dropped my head to my lap and put my arms around my head to protect it. My stepmom was in the passenger seat and she braced her hands against the dash and broke her wrist. The airbags didn’t go off.
My friend and I were hit from behind on an icy road during a blizzard. She was driving. Later she said: “I totally saw it coming. I knew we were going to be hit but I didn’t say anything because you would have turned your head and tensed up and you could have been injured.”
I would think that you’d automatically tense up and brace for impact, but if you’re able to think quickly enough to relax and keep your arms down or use your arms to protect your face and head it would be the best.
A little off topic, but what asshole decided that planting a bomb in every car’s dashboard was a good idea? Yeah, if you’re dumb enough not to wear your seat belt it may help a little. If you do wear your belt, the benefit is slight at best, negative at worst.
I only hope I can face a crash with the aplomb these guys had. (35 second youtube clip of Russian traffic follies) I’m wondering if vodka had something to do with it…
In the crashes I’ve been involved in, it all happened so quickly, all I could do was think “We’re going to crash,” and shove myself into the seat back with my arm against the door handle. These were in cars w/o airbags.
True, but I specified passenger in the OP because the passenger can’t do much except prepare for impact.
The driver is - hopefully - 100 percent engaged in the act of driving in an emergency situation. Braking, steering, calculating distance and clearance and so on: doing whatever possible to avoid impact, or at least to minimize the damage.
A medic I used to ride with had “go limp” drills. As a former medic I will tell you that your arms braced on the dashboard will not withstand the tons of force a serious accident will bring. Your best shot is to relax, don’t distract the driver, wear your seat belt always, and it helps to have some extra ‘cushioning’ as in body fat to absorb the impact.
Grab the steering wheel and yank it back and forth.
Flip all the switches and push all the buttons on the dash.
Frantically move your seat all the way forward and all the way back.
Get out your cell phone and start updating your Facebook/Twitter that OMG!!! IM IN CAR CRASH RITE NOWSZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! and keep shoving the cell phone in the drivers face and taking pictures of said face.