The Read Record

I am so tired of hearing 'John didn't get hit by a car'. First - there is not ONE person who said John didn't get hit by a car. NOT ONE. What was said by a paid defense expert was that his injuries were not consistent with a car/pedestrian collision. But let me break down the physics: A broken elbow or arm is not required, even if the taillight was broken. The argument based on Newton’s 3rd law is being misunderstood. The effect of the force depends on mass, according to: F = m * a → a = F / m Because the car has far greater mass than a person, the same force produces very little acceleration in the car but can significantly accelerate the person’s body. That acceleration can be enough to knock someone off balance (and out of their shoes) without breaking a bone. If the impact occurs at the elbow (away from the body’s center of mass), it can also create rotation: torque = r * F This means the force can cause the body to spin or twist, sending energy into motion rather than into crushing the arm. The arm is not fixed in place—it can move, bend, and absorb energy through joints and muscles, which reduces the likelihood of fracture. This is exactly what Randy showed us when ARCCA did their testing. Injury also depends on how long the force is applied: Impulse = F * delta t where delta t is change in time. A short, glancing impact (small delta t) can transfer enough momentum to destabilize the person while still not applying force long enough, or in the right way, to break bone. Additionally, the taillight and the human arm fail differently. Taillights are made of brittle plastic and can crack under a localized, sharp impact. The human arm is more flexible and can dissipate energy through movement. So it is entirely possible for a taillight to break while the arm does not. Most importantly, the energy from the impact does not have to stay in the arm. (translation and rotation). That means the energy goes into momentum of the body. A significant portion of that energy can be transferred into the motion of the whole body, not into damaging the arm itself. As a result, the person can be thrown off balance or rotated, leading to a fall. This is what Dr. Wolf (neurosurgeon) described as the injuries to John's head were caused by a significant force. When the body then strikes the ground, that motion results in a second force: F = change in momentum / change in time If the head stops suddenly upon impact with the ground, the time of deceleration is very small, which creates a large force on the head, even though the original contact was at the elbow. If most of the energy had instead remained concentrated in the arm, you would expect more severe arm injuries. But when the energy is transferred into whole-body motion, the arm can avoid major injury while the fall becomes the damaging event. A physically consistent sequence is: elbow contacts taillight → localized stress breaks taillight → energy transfers into body motion (linear + rotational) → loss of balance → shoe dislodges → fall → back of head strikes ground or object The fatal injury can occur from the secondary impact, not the initial contact. The irony is that Randy showed us this exactly. If John's body had remained static - the injuries to his arm would have been significant. Instead, that energy was transferred to rotation and motion so there was a significant force that when landing on the hard pavement created a fatal INJURY to his head. John did have injuries. A fatal injury. You all seem to forget that one.