True if it hits you directly. This tape measure deflected off a pile of wood (or something like that), which probably robbed it of a lot of momentum in the change of direction.
On a related note, I had a boss in the military who was sitting in a jeep on a drop zone during a parachute operation. Frequently, units will drop a cargo bundle just to practice the procedures for that. In this case, the unit selected a cast iron, single drawer safe to drop. It probably weighed 50 pounds. The plane was around 1250 feet above ground level. The parachute malfunctioned (the static line attaching the plane to the chute snapped), so the safe fell freefall from 1250' and smashed into the ground at the appropriate speed, burying itself halfway into the sandy drop zone. My boss, sitting in the jeep about 20 yards away turned to his driver and in a matter of fact way, said, "See? That's why you have to wear a helmet on a drop zone."
As if, when getting hit in the noggin by a 50 pound safe falling from 1250 feet, a helmet would have made much difference.
