The other night some friends and I were driving home and a car veered into our lane. In attempt to avoid it we swerved, lost control, and hit a utility pole as well as several trees; eventually landing on the roof. Our speed was approx. 55mph maybe slightly faster (that was the posted limit). The reason for this post isn't for sympathy or anything.. I figured some would be interested on how their vehicle would hold up in a real life crash and hearing the story/outcome from the owner himself. I'm sure you can find plenty of pictures of totaled Priuses on the Internet but most probably don't have a description of the outcome and how the passengers were afterwards. There are four passengers in the vehicle total. I was in the passenger seat. Each other occupant was seated next to the door. (Nobody in the middle rear seat). The main part of the impact was the passenger rear quarter panel. The car did roll several times and flipped front to back. I was the only person wearing a seatbelt. The airbag in the steering wheel deployed as well as the passenger dashboard airbag, the right side curtain airbags, and the front passenger seat airbag. The driver side curtain airbags and driver seat airbag did not deploy. The rear suspension beam (not sure exactly what it's called but the equivalent of a rear axle on a rear wheel drive car) was mostly detached and the passenger rear wheel broke off at the hub. The rear seats were pushed together and now overlap slightly but for the most part the cabin stayed intact. Will add pictures shortly. Sorry for any typos, writing this from an iPhone.
Sorry forgot to add that. Three of us walked away. One was trapped and cut out. He had a broken rib and is home now.
yikes, and some hear are horrified buy the poor offset crash ratings. incredibly safe car, glad you all made it through, that must have been a nightmare!
It still runs and drives, right? In all seriousness, I'm glad everyone made it out alive. Especially with only one 1 of you having a seat belt on. Praise the Lord!
Nightmare it was! If the 12v battery wasn't crushed i bet it would start right up. Well, at least attempt to move on electric! I think for such a small vehicle the structure held up well.
Holy shite! What a hit. Amazing no one died. Amazing people still ride in cars with no seatbelt. Given an end to end roll over the roof held up really well. Did the car lose control when the driver whipped away from the guy creeping into the lane cause it looks like the front tires are pretty bald. Car breaking free with that much weight in it and your in for it. Thanks for posting glad you all walked away.
driving a Prius without seatbelt? interesting detail. something modified that caused lack of airbag deployment?
At least the HV battery pack looks to be in good shape...........Way to design and protect the battery pack!!
The driver of the other vehicle never stopped. The front drivers side tire didn't have much tread left, the other three were almost new. Although i'm sure the lack of tread didn't help the situation, the embankment was almost a 4 foot vertical drop to the bottom of the ditch (and trees), so there wasn't much saving it anyways. I was too wondering about why the driver's side airbags didn't go off, but I starting thinking, the first impact crushed the 12v battery (it actually was almost touching the spare tire). Maybe the loss of the 12v system prevented the other side from deploying, or maybe it didn't deploy because the driver wasn't wearing a seatbelt? I'm not sure how all that works
Insurance towed it away. I've never been in an accident or dealt with insurance, but I'm assuming it's theirs now that they paid off the loan
I would think it's okay, but there might have been some damage. The body of the car was actually pushed in to the point where the folding back seats now overlap
Woow....amazing car crash... A shame ut was the cool black prius You can Buy a nice prius with battery problems and put your actual pack.. You were listening tangerine dream? Stratosfear
