Why do pedestrians, that have been hit by a vehicle, get literally knocked out of their shoes?

Question

Everytime I see a news story about a person getting hit by a car they always show the person's shoes sitting on the road as if the person were in midstep at the point of impact and the shoes stayed right where they were. Why does this happen?

Answer 1

Inertia.  Mind you, it makes a good picture for the news, I suspect the shot is often set up for that purpose. May not even be the victim's shoes . . . .

Answer 2

I saw this dude on one of those shows last night about car accidents and weird accidents in general. This guy was skate boarding and fell something like 60-70 feet straight down off his board and landed feet first on the hard wood ramp and lost both his shoes ! I think it's because when you're body is suddenly forced to either stop or accelerate suddenly, your shoes having mass or weight have a tendency not to. The dude walked off the ramp........with some help.

Answer 3

Is it horrible I just thought of Dane Cook?

I have no idea, and this isn't something I've ever run across, but it's an interesting question. I'm rather intrigued to see if someone actually knows the answer.

Answer 4

Well, it all has to do with momentum.

The shoes aren't moving and the shoes werent hit, so the body moves while the shoes stay where they were.

Answer 5

probably because the person doesn't have them tied tight enough.

heres a another question .... why don't pedestrians look both ways before they cross the street?  or why is crossing a street in the middle of a block illegal in many areas??  i see crossing the street, at many times, at an intersection more dangerous then in the middle of the block.  cross in the middle of the block, your only watching out for traffic from two directions.  cross at an intersection, you have to watch from car from four directions, including ones going straight and turning.

Answer 6

This is the "force" Luke...........