Question

A young male experienced severe blunt chest trauma when his passenger car struck another vehicle head-on. During your inspection of the interior of his vehicle, you would MOST likely find:

A. deployed airbags.
B. steering wheel deformity.
C. starring of the windshield.
D. a crushed instrument panel.

Answer 1

In the event of a head-on collision causing severe blunt chest trauma, deployed airbags are the most likely feature to be found in the vehicle, as they are designed to inflate upon impact to reduce the force experienced by the occupants.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the scenario of a young male experiencing severe blunt chest trauma following a head-on collision, one would MOST likely encounter deployed airbags inside the vehicle. Airbags are designed to deploy upon impact and work along with seatbelts to minimize severe injuries to passengers by allowing the net force on the occupants to act over a much longer time when there is a sudden stop.

This understanding of impulse and momentum change is vital for vehicle safety. It means that, during a collision, the same momentum change occurs whether an airbag is deployed or not, but the force experienced by the occupant will be significantly less if it acts over a longer period. This principle is applied in various vehicle safety features like airbags and padded dashboards to reduce the force of impact.