You know it's not going to be good when you look up and see the airborne car coming at you -- sideways, bottom-side first, from the opposite direction on I-95. That's what we saw a week ago last Saturday night. My teenage daughter was driving 68mph and was able to move a lane-and-a-half to the right and nearly miss it. We're all very, very lucky. All four of us in the car have various degrees of bruises and neck/back strain, but the Prius did exactly what it was supposed to do and we're all ok. (Miraculously, the other driver ended up on her roof next to us, and survived.) Suffice it to say that we were impressed enough with the handling and crash-worthiness of our '06 that we turned right around and replaced it with an identical '09. (Market prices being what they are, the transaction cost surprisingly little.) The side airbags never deployed, but the stability control likely paid for itself in spades. We feel truly blessed. Charlie (who needs to do his tweaks all over again, but doesn't really mind.)
WOW...really really glad you guys are OK, that could have been really really tragic! Thanks for sharing.
Wow! You are blessed indeed. Enjoy your new car and thanks for reminding us what is important in this world - not the car, but the people inside. I know a guy here that had a similar experience last year. Not with a flying Subaru, but a grounded car that ran a red light and plowed into him. He raved about the safety of the Prius, said it saved his life and went out and bought a new one.
And kudos to your daughter who learned some good defensive driving skills somewhere! Many people would have been paralyzed into inaction by such a sight.
The police report hasn't been released yet, but it sounds like she got tangled up with a semi on the other side of the jersey wall. One of those suspended license, safety-violation-in-multiple-state kinda trucks. She spun out, flipped over the jersey wall, and met us very shortly after landing. It's a he-said, she-said kinda story, and her car took so much abuse from the jersey wall, the blacktop, and us that it may be hard to prove exactly what happened. Charlie
and they said flying cars weren't available yet. Thos crazy 50s ads! Seriously though, good job on your daughter's part! That's one of the worst Prius' collisions I've seen. Glad to hear that all of you made it out of that scene safe and sound.
Holy hell! Good to walk away from a hit like that one. Bet they don't practice that one in traffic school. Some ultra-light builders use Subaru engines in their aircraft but they normally remove the rest of the car first. Daughter did well, I hope the passengers thanked her. It's likely the Prius saved the driver of the other car too, it was an added crumple zone. A lot of energy was expended bending all that metal.
More than the Prius saving her life, I bet she had her seat belt on. IMHO, based on observations at hundreds of crashes throughout my career, rollovers are the ones where seat belts make the most difference. I've seen many very survivable crashes where an occupant dies after getting tossed out the window at much lower speeds than this.
It happens all of the time. The roads around here are two land and twisty, so we don't get a lot of high speed crashes. When I hear about a fatal crash, my first thought is "no seatbelt". It usually is the case, unless the car ran into the water. Tom
All together now: "That'll buff right out!" Kudos to your daughter and best wishes for your continued good fortune.
I am glad that you and yours are OK from that crash. Bad time for Prii on I95 this week, we lost our red Prius to a deer collision at 68MPH. Like your accident nobody hurt, no airbags deployed and no loss of stability, perhaps due to VSC. The Prius kicks rumproast in an accident, doing what you want a car to do - save lives. A 2010 is in our future so I am reading those forums now with more than passing interest. Rumple
I thought wearing a seatbelt was a given, as far as I know it's the law. You are dead right though, seat belts are the number 1 safety device in any accident.
Pat beat me to it, but Subaru engines are very popular with Kitfox owners Me, I'd prefer a "real" airplane motor. I'm kind of picky that way. If I can sell the business, or win the lottery, I'd love to park myself into a Socata TBM 850
It's not always a given on this side of the world. First, not every state requires them. Second, for many of those that do, it is considered a secondary infraction, meaning police can cite the offender only after stopping the car for some other offense. Third, laws don't always require all passengers of all ages to be restrained. Finally, enforcement is often inconsistent.
