Motorcycle + mine shaft

[Cooker]

A 21 year old man dies after riding an off road vehice 500 ft. down a mine shaft. The mineshaft is owned by Silver Dollar Mining Company according to Cheryl Longwith, communications supervisor at the Kern County Sheriff's Department. The victim's identity has yet to be released.
Motorcyclist Dies After Falling into San Bernardino County Mine Shaft


CALIFORNIA CITY, Calif. (AP) 11.15.04, 9:40a -- Officials say a 21 year old man riding an off-road vehicle in northwestern San Bernardino County has died after falling into a mine shaft.

San Bernardino County Deputy Coroner Dick Ebel has identified the man as Mathew Frey of Mission Viejo.

A county fire department spokesman says the motorcyclist fell into the mine shaft which is owned by Silver Dollar Mining Company, said Cheryl Longwith, communications supervisor at the Kern County Sheriff's Department about 1:45 pm in the Red Mountain area just east of Interstate 395.

A county dispatch supervisor says the man's body was found about 7:30 pm roughly 500 feet down the shaft. The body was brought up and the coroner's office has been called to the scene. The victim's identity is not yet being released.

kfwb newslink (http://www.kfwb.com/content.asp?table1tabCount=6&table1tabOn=1&table2tabCount=6&table2tabOn=1&displayOption=&contentGUID={82AC89C7-300A-4E13-B781-2030B27E0FB0})

--Okay, so how long would that take
[thanks no brakes, I'll post the comp later but looks more like]: 5.59 seconds. Not long enough!


What would you say?

[Burst]

poor guy.. was probably riding where he wasnt supposed to be tho... if the mine shaft is owned by a company chances are is is surrounded by private land. :(

[No_Brakes23]

Originally posted by Cooker
--Okay, so how long would that take
500/32 feet per second = 15.65 seconds (no?)


I believe 32 feet/second is the rate of acceleration, not the speed.

Could be wrong though.

[Burst]

IF he didnt bounce off the walls of the mine shaft and actually experienced freefall the whole way down it would have taken him approximately six seconds. reaching a speed of 94mph

http://w02-0440.web.dircon.net/websites/basejumper.org/freefalldata.htm

[SVSRyder]

32 ft per second/per second.
1st second he fell 32 feet. 2nd second he fell an additional 64 feet for a total of 96 feet in two seconds.

6 seconds sounds about right.

[Swell]

The lands in that particular area are BLM with permits to the mining company's. Deaths of this type happen 2-3 times durring the riding season.

[Tillers_Rule]

He could've also hit the sides on the way down, slowing his fall.

Anyway, I'm wondering if he was riding illegally? If not, Im sure the mine shaft owners are gonna get it.

[TheCopperOne]

Originally posted by SVSRyder
32 ft per second/per second.
1st second he fell 32 feet. 2nd second he fell an additional 64 feet for a total of 96 feet in two seconds.



Uhh....then he would be falling at 48 feet per second....

[jasinner]

Actually, this is a kinda common occurance to hear it told.

My dad used to ride to abandoned mines on dirtbikes back in the day and said that people routinely disappeared in them (the shafts were left completely open, it was dark, and people raced through the caves.
That actually sounds kinda...fun.

He said the noise that the bikes made in the cave was perhaps one of the most awesome experiences in his life.

I wonder how many bikes and bones lay at the bottom of mine shafts, undiscovered.

[SVSRyder]

Uhh....then he would be falling at 48 feet per second....

no, though I see why you say that. When falling, until you hit your terminal velocity you add 32 ft / second for every second, hence:

1 second = 32 ft/second
2 second = 64 ft/second
3 second = 96 ft/second

ergo the 32 feet per second per second. (doubly stated per second intentionally)

[TheCopperOne]

Originally posted by SVSRyder
no, though I see why you say that. When falling, until you hit your terminal velocity you add 32 ft / second for every second, hence:

1 second = 32 ft/second
2 second = 64 ft/second
3 second = 96 ft/second

ergo the 32 feet per second per second. (doubly stated per second intentionally)


You are correct...I am ashamed....

[-(

[jasinner]

And this conversation is morbidly intellectual by the way.

Now what if the mine shaft went all the way though the center of the earth.

How fast would he fall then?

:D

[SVSRyder]

terminal velocity :D

[racinteach]

ca city is pretty much open area....Red mountain is the site of many races and open riding.....this really sucks...it is strange because most verticle shafts are fenced or covered with something ...the horizontal ones are the ones you ride in like the do in Greenland or someplace out there where they race in the mones..

[Silver6]

Hahaha... 10 m/s squared. So yeah, approx. 32 ft/second every second.

So SVSRyder is right, it's just about 6 seconds more or less... which is quite a LONG time when you're falling I'd imagine!

[SVSRyder]

no, all credit goes to Burst for that :)

*bows to Burst*

[Chris_az]

reminds me of a tiny toons episode where they fell to the center of the earth.. they showed the characters screaming for a few seconds then they stopped, assumed a comfortable lying down position and busted out a book..

[jasinner]

reminds me of a tiny toons episode where they fell to the center of the earth.. they showed the characters screaming for a few seconds then they stopped, assumed a comfortable lying down position and busted out a book..

:lol:

Thats exactly what I was thinking of when I was making that post!

[enos79]

I was riding a quad out in Adelanto off the 395 a few years ago and came close to this sort of thing. You can't see the hole until you are right on it. I happened to be to the left of it so I rode by it. Riding by, it just looked like a pit, had no idea how deep it was till I went back and looked over the edge and could'nt see the bottom. Prolly only about 8 ft in diameter at the most. Scared the piss out of me because you literally cant see anything untill you are probably 15 ft away, and you can't tell it's seriously deep until you look over the edge. About 2 years after this, the whole area is not fenced off, I guess it was private property before, just not fenced off.