Gundo

Glad we weren't in the 951!

Last week, a full size delivery van coming at us decided he would make a left turn across our direction of travel. Needless to say, he was a bit slow making the turn.

I hit him head on at 40 mph - after about 1/2 second of braking. As you know, 1/2 second of braking in a Suburban doesn't scrub much speed. In fact, I hit him so hard, he spun 180 degrees and hit us again in the driver side door with his rear end. Not so sure my DRLs helped to much...but at least I don't have that nagging feeling that I had turned them off.

Had my wife and I been in our 951, don't know if I'd be typing right now. God Bless America and our right to choose big safe trucks. The EMTs couldn't believe we walked away.

Just a mere $20K in damage. The body shop claims the ability to match the paint - to call me skeptical would be putting it mildly. The van that pulled in front of us was totalled.




Drive Safe! Remember, other people have lots of opportunities to crash into you.

Gundo

Another picture - side view...

Peckster

That's a classic motorcycle accident scenario, with some bozo looking right at the bike, then turning left in front of it. Seen it a few times. I'm glad you were able to put your Suburban to good use.

rhesus

Danno

Was the engine damaged? It looks like the bumper would be pushing up right against block?

JonM..

Glad you were not hurt, but don't be so sure that the "big American truck" is any safer than a similiar year car. Check out impact tests.

Gundo

Danno,

Apparently engine was not damaged. As part of our settlement, I will be asking for an extended warranty on the engine and drivetrain. The radiator, trans cooler, p/s rack and right susp are all fried...engine was pretty much stripped of all components except block, intake and exhaust during the rebuild...I do have question about how things will wind up.


JonM -
On the topic of safety of big versus large, in this particular crash, there is little doubt it was better to be in a heavy vehicle.

We happened to hit another fairly heavy vehicle, but our momentum and inertia was enough to not only stop the van that got in front of us, but bounce it off the front of us and push it about 50 feet in the opposite direction.

I would suspect that unless your car weighs 5960 pounds, the result would be an much more severe impact, with little forward travel after impact. There are few cars that would have been able to do the same in this situation.

Put another way, my thought is that given our inertia, we were able to reduce the severity of the impact because I was able to push him out of the way.

I fear had we been going the same speed in my wife's Volvo wagon or my 951, we would have come to a complete stop without pushing his van.

I'll grant you, the results of crashing a Suburban into a solid wall at 40 mph versus a Honda into a solid wall at 40 mph may in fact show the Honda passengers have less severe injuries, but that is rarely a "real world" occurrence. And I'll pass on the topic of roll-overs - where SUVs do pretty poorly.

This is based on my basic knowledge of physics - and I certainly stand ready to be corrected. And ready to get my truck back - my rental '02 Grand Am with 10k miles is a total POS.

Greg Fishman

You need to also ask for Dimished Value. Your Suburban is worth much less now. Did you puss the company to total the truck?
Greg

Danno

" the results of crashing a Suburban into a solid wall at 40 mph versus a Honda into a solid wall at 40 mph may in fact show the Honda passengers have less severe injuries, but that is rarely a "real world" occurrence."

They use that test as a worse-case scenario crash into an immovable object, which means the car's body had to absorb and dissipate all of its kinetic energy while keeping the passengers' decceleration within safe limits. On the other hand, just about anything you'll hit out on the roads will move and take some of your kinetic energy away. Like in spinning that van.

Trucks and SUVs have had this bad rap for being too stiff and subjecting the passengers to too high of deceleration forces (cutting them in half with the seat belt). Ford had done a great job in the mid-'90s of being able to make their trucks & SUVs about 1/2 as stiff to absorb more energy in an impact. But this still doesn't address the roll-over issue...

I still can't believe they can restore that car for $20k... Glad you're able to walk away and tell a story!

LastV8

Gundo, I can't believe the body shop told you they can match the paint!! Who owns that shop?? Spicoli? "I can fix it. My dad's got an ultimate set of tools."

I'd be on the ground laughing. Man oh man. Well good to hear that you and your wife are alright.


<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Gundo

Danno -

You are right about the stiffness of the truck - the fact that the passenger compartment was not in any way deformed supports this. Most passenger car designs are meant to spread the force throughout the structure - most certainly totalling them.

LastV8 -

I am real skeptical that they will be able to match the graphite metallic paint on the truck...all but the two rear qtr panels and the tailgate are being sprayed - I've tried to convince them to spray the whole thing - to no avail. I'll get to see the painted, clear coated and "baked" truck next week.

When I get really angry and pound my fists, maybe they will do something. But otherwise, I don't think there are many options. Other than trade it in on a '03 later this year.

Can't wait to go to the Connecticut Valley Region PCA Autox this weekend at Oxford Airport. Its my first one, and I am dying to get put my 951 around some cones. Did the skippy class at Limerock last summer and had a blast!

Enjoy the weekend.

Scott Heckert

You have to remember it is how well your car or truck can absorb the energy of a crash. You want the car or truck to take all the damage and not you.