Physics. Energy dissipation. Something absorbs energy acted upon a body in motion, either your skin or any combination of plastic, foam, carbon fiber, whatever.
By the time the energy gets to your skin/skull, hopefully it has been reduced significantly that the damage is lessened enough to survive the insult. That is why cagers survive most crashes IF they remain in the car, the car body absorbs the impact that would otherwise be acted upon the body.
Nobody as seen the effects up as close and personal than those of us who tend to the wounds, not even the experts that speculate from afar.
Moe has a point in the initial commentary but the media loves to point out the contributing factors. I don't know that it is appropriate to use a tragedy in generic publication/broadcast to convey a veiled public safety message.
