I think u are missing the point he is making that, IF u went for
a drifting course u will know how EASY it is to oversteer at 40km/h
on slippery surface. He's not saying it is hard. In fact, all the
MX5 driver had to do was to yank the wheel a bit harder and it can
happen. U use the term 'good' very loosely here. Maybe I can
explain further in my reply to your next comment. In fact the point
is oversteer can happen easily. Its the controlling it that is
hard, which is why there is a need for a drifting course.
Ok. 1stly many people keep overlooking the point that HANDLING
DOES NOT EQUAL STABILITY
Its simple. A heavier car will be more stable. U are wrong in
saying that a heavier car will oversteer easier. It is incorrect in
using momentum to explain this. U should be looking at inertia.
Inertia is the force that resists change in velocity. Velocity is
speed x direction. When u change your direction, even if speed
remains constant, your velocity changes. Inertia is what resists
change to velocity, and inertia is basically dependent on weight.
So higher weight = higher inertia. U would need more force to make
a heavier car change velocity(skid) because u would need to
overcome the inertia.
The MX5 is light. Good handling, but less stable. Lesser weight on
the wheels, pressing the wheel down into contact with the ground.
Besides, the MX5 has a short wheelbase. Cars with short wheelbases
handle very well. But are more unstable. Everyone knows a go-kart's
handling is excellent. But it is also very unstable. Doesn't take
much for u to spin it by mistake. A car which handles well but
which has to depend on mechanical means for most of its grip will
always be more unstable compared to a car which handles less well.
Don't have the mistaken impression that just because its a car
which handles well, it shouldn't have spun or skidded easily at low
speeds.
Thinking thru the scenario from what I know so far, I doubt if
the MX5 was speeding, or had to be speeding to fly when it hit the
curb. Cars, especially lightweight ones like the MX5, are
notoriously easy to tip over if they hit a curb sideways, to be
honest. It won't fully rotate in the air but it will certainly fly
and it will certainly rotate a bit in the air. Of course his claims
about the BMW driver speeding were made in a huff, which I've
pointed out to be wrong, taking into consideration the theory of
resultant speed(factual physics. u can't escape it)
Ok. I believe that he is a friend of the driver, and that he had
been to the scene of accident shortly after, because the driver
called him. In a fatal accident like this, all evidence are
essential. The investigators would have gotten to the scene fairly
quickly because of the perishable nature of the evidence, and
because they have to gather all their evidence quickly in order for
traffic flow to resume. I would believe that he stood by and
listened in while the investigators interviewed the eye witnesses,
and very possibly spoke to the investigators a bit, and asked them
about their prelimanary opinions of the accident. He would thus
have some information which, regardless of whether he was
'somebody' or not, would have.
Thats his point. U were lucky that no one else was beside u, and
that it could easily happen to any of us. And I don't think its
fair that U insinuate that speed was the main cause of this
accident by saying what u did. Things can happen under the speed
limit and they often do.
It might not seem logical but I hope my explanations can help u
understand better why its actually logical.
