JHZR2
Staff member
Wife, child and I were taking a trip to the beach today in the 240D, and the beach we were going to requires a good distance on a very rural two lane, 55mph road. The road has passing zones and a good number of curves that are blind due to their arc and the heavy woods along them.
We came upon the accident and were the first non-witness car on scene in our direction. As we rolled up, the driver of one of the vehicles flopped out of his car and fell down on the grass.
The three main vehicles were a late model Cadillac, a Chevy Aveo 4dr, and an older GMC Sonoma (S-10 clone) pickup.
The Cadillac had a 70 year old man in it, there was no trunk and the contents were all over the road.
The Chevy had a family of four in it.
The Sonoma had one younger male driver. He was the one who flopped out. They were calling in medevac for him, and it appeared he may have been paralyzed.
Myself and one other person literally ripped the door off the Cadillac to help that guy. He then said he was ok (we weren't going to get him out) and left him. The guy who flopped in the ground was being treated for shock but not moved/touched. The family of four broke my heart. All four walked away. The two kids were crying, the one had a huge seatbelt burn on her chest. The mother was horribly shook up. Their car, the Aveo, had no discernible hood, engine, radiator (it was somewhere under the car steaming), etc.
What impressed me the most, was the Aveo. The Cadillac was bigger, was hit in the side and rear somehow, but the Aveo must have done the full head in with the Sonoma at 45mph or so.
To compare, the Aveo had no hood, the engine was under the car somewhere, and the doors all operated (though bent), the trunk opened up, and the cabin was in solid shape. The Sonoma on the other hand, could be seen that the dashboard was in the seat back of the passenger front seat. I'm sure the other side was only held off by the force going into the driver (who fell out possibly paralyzed). As an owner of an S-10, I know obviously it is very many generations of design older than the other cars, and wasn't the highest safety rated vehicle to begin with. Still, I'd have expected something different from a body on frame vehicle in terms of how the frame vs the cabin and engine would move. Scary stuff.
Though the Cadillac guy was dazed, he was perfectly ok (at least by claim), just stuck. Tons of airbags deployed and all glass was shattered.
I have to say I was impressed with the Aveo. The child seats (one strap type and one booster) were still in place, the kids were safe, the parents walking. It really did its job as designed, thank goodness.
The front looked worse than this one, but I'm pretty sure the driver didn't sling his head out the folding driver door like in this:
One of the wheels on the Sonoma was literally folded in half. There was a random lower control arm and wheel/tire attached, laying on the side of the road between the Aveo and Sonoma, and the Cadillac. Not sure what vehicle it was launched from.
Note how the body forces it's way into the driver front wheel in is test. That's exactly why the wheel,was folded over on itself in the Sonoma (worse than in this video):
I drive a lot. There are many years where I do 20k miles. I've never encountered an accident like that. I've never smelled an airbag or seen it still smoking from release. I take safety seriously, drive with lots of space and controlled speed. Fortunately I also try to minimize time in two lane head on roads. I'm still shook up over this, especially seeing the guy fall from his truck, and seeing the family in such a state of scare and disbelief. It could have been us. While I've been rear ended at ~45 mph in a w123 Mercedes with high level of safety and no injuries, I was rear-ended (the at fault driver crushed my full quarter and then pushed me out of the way and smashed the two cars in front of me)... Head on is another story, a scary one. While the w123 is a very safe car, IMO, it's not the same basis as more modern vehicle designs, fwiw.
Though they look to do pretty well here:
Driving is dangerous. The safety improvements in new cars are really wonderful. I'm sure there was some driver error, but who and what I can't speculate... But it can happen to anyone. Be alert, be safe.
We came upon the accident and were the first non-witness car on scene in our direction. As we rolled up, the driver of one of the vehicles flopped out of his car and fell down on the grass.
The three main vehicles were a late model Cadillac, a Chevy Aveo 4dr, and an older GMC Sonoma (S-10 clone) pickup.
The Cadillac had a 70 year old man in it, there was no trunk and the contents were all over the road.
The Chevy had a family of four in it.
The Sonoma had one younger male driver. He was the one who flopped out. They were calling in medevac for him, and it appeared he may have been paralyzed.
Myself and one other person literally ripped the door off the Cadillac to help that guy. He then said he was ok (we weren't going to get him out) and left him. The guy who flopped in the ground was being treated for shock but not moved/touched. The family of four broke my heart. All four walked away. The two kids were crying, the one had a huge seatbelt burn on her chest. The mother was horribly shook up. Their car, the Aveo, had no discernible hood, engine, radiator (it was somewhere under the car steaming), etc.
What impressed me the most, was the Aveo. The Cadillac was bigger, was hit in the side and rear somehow, but the Aveo must have done the full head in with the Sonoma at 45mph or so.
To compare, the Aveo had no hood, the engine was under the car somewhere, and the doors all operated (though bent), the trunk opened up, and the cabin was in solid shape. The Sonoma on the other hand, could be seen that the dashboard was in the seat back of the passenger front seat. I'm sure the other side was only held off by the force going into the driver (who fell out possibly paralyzed). As an owner of an S-10, I know obviously it is very many generations of design older than the other cars, and wasn't the highest safety rated vehicle to begin with. Still, I'd have expected something different from a body on frame vehicle in terms of how the frame vs the cabin and engine would move. Scary stuff.
Though the Cadillac guy was dazed, he was perfectly ok (at least by claim), just stuck. Tons of airbags deployed and all glass was shattered.
I have to say I was impressed with the Aveo. The child seats (one strap type and one booster) were still in place, the kids were safe, the parents walking. It really did its job as designed, thank goodness.
The front looked worse than this one, but I'm pretty sure the driver didn't sling his head out the folding driver door like in this:
One of the wheels on the Sonoma was literally folded in half. There was a random lower control arm and wheel/tire attached, laying on the side of the road between the Aveo and Sonoma, and the Cadillac. Not sure what vehicle it was launched from.
Note how the body forces it's way into the driver front wheel in is test. That's exactly why the wheel,was folded over on itself in the Sonoma (worse than in this video):
I drive a lot. There are many years where I do 20k miles. I've never encountered an accident like that. I've never smelled an airbag or seen it still smoking from release. I take safety seriously, drive with lots of space and controlled speed. Fortunately I also try to minimize time in two lane head on roads. I'm still shook up over this, especially seeing the guy fall from his truck, and seeing the family in such a state of scare and disbelief. It could have been us. While I've been rear ended at ~45 mph in a w123 Mercedes with high level of safety and no injuries, I was rear-ended (the at fault driver crushed my full quarter and then pushed me out of the way and smashed the two cars in front of me)... Head on is another story, a scary one. While the w123 is a very safe car, IMO, it's not the same basis as more modern vehicle designs, fwiw.
Though they look to do pretty well here:
Driving is dangerous. The safety improvements in new cars are really wonderful. I'm sure there was some driver error, but who and what I can't speculate... But it can happen to anyone. Be alert, be safe.