one hopes the brakes are scaled to match, as they are with say a lorry, so that the stopping distances remain comparable.  If  it is still moving when it hits you, even  a pedal cycle can be fatal.

Figures

Mike.

Having driven in Germany, that has 2 sides. "Ich hab' recht, Ich fahre" - "I have right of way, I'm going (and stuff the rest of you....) " also applies, so expect no sypathy if you are waiting for someone to let you in, especialy around Berlin - the general lack of toleranz is noticable, so much so that there is a special derogatory term for the self important city folk, used among non city dwellers "the Berliner Schnauze" - the near word in english is the snout of a pig dog or similar.

Mike

PS better explained here

Consider the mass of an ICE vs the mass of an EV

Is there necessarily much of a difference? Sure the battery weighs more than a fuel tank, but the electric motor is likely to be far smaller and lighter than a conventional engine block and gear box. Plus there's a bigger incentive for EV manufacturers to keep overall weight down (to improve range).

I've not looked into the details, but a quick google suggests an electric Zoe or Leaf is a similar weight to an petrol i20 (circa 1.6t), being similar length vehicles. Lots of variation between models of course.

Also when looking at kinetic energy - mv² - mass is proportionate but speed is squared - so increasing the mass by 50% only increases the kinetic energy by 50%, whereas increasing the speed from say 20 to 30 increases the kinetic energy by 125%.

   - Andy.

would the project of started at all?

Oh yes, I've no doubt that something would have been done - after all the "great stink" was directly affecting Westminster. Had parliament been a few miles upstream, I'd be less confident...

   - Andy.

AJJewsbury said:

"great stink"

That would certainly be the reason so much effort and money was put into the project.  However sometimes we need to face adversity to be able to achieve great things.  

Speaking of Great Stink there is a new one brewing over HS2

mapj1 said:

Only if it were the case that the  health and safety at work act would apply - it does not apply to folk who are not at work or where there is no ideintifiable employer

It does also affect those who are affected by the employers activities, including members of the public, so if a highways authority changes the speed limit (or decides not to change it) in the course of their work, and that decision results it results in an injury or death to a member of the  public, then there is the possibility of a case. (I'm not enough of a lawyer to know if it would have a chance of succeeding.) 

3 (1) It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.

In the UK rail industry everything we do on the safety side comes back to HASAWA in the end, even if we're considering trespassers and suicides. Level crossing users are a very good example, they are not even paying passengers but we still end up owing them a duty of care under HASAWA - even when they do daft things! If we can predict that they will do daft things, and it's reasonably practicable to do something to lower their risk, then we need to do it.

A recent example of a successful prosecution under HASAWA of those affected by the employers actions, whilst not themselves employed, was of TfL and TOL arising from the passengers killed in the Croydon Tram Crash - a particularly good example as in fact the only person at work affected by the crash, the driver, was also himself prosecuted (but acquitted, and from the evidence I've seen quite rightly, there but for the grace go any of us). I always recommend the RAIB report of that crash to anyone wanting to understand the consequences of not doing risk assessment, and not responding to feedback, it is extraordinary. It's everything we see getting missed on individual projects captured in a single project - the crash didn't need to have happened, and even if it did happen the passengers didn't need to die as a result of it.

Thanks,

Andy