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Prius Crash Safety

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by askreeger, Nov 5, 2004.

  1. askreeger

    askreeger New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2004
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    Location:
    Sacramento
    Well I have good news and bad news about my near-new (235 miles) 2005 Tideland Pearl. The bad news: I was rear-ended when approaching a line-up of cars waiting for a signal. The car suffered extensive damage. The good news: The design of the Prius rear end protected me from serious injury and allowed me to stop the car without crashing into the line-up of cars in front of me.

    Details: I was approaching a signal on a four lane city road crowded with evening traffic at about 20 mph. I was struck in the rear by a Ford Windstar Van when the driver was distracted. It was traveling at roughly 30-35mph. Although I felt an impact and heard the noise, I was able to brake to avoid hitting the car in front of me. The Prius did its job, sacrificing the rear end by crumpling. I was unhurt. The air bags in the Windstar deployed and saved the other driver from injury. Other than cracks and gouges in his bumper and headlight he suffered no serious damage, but he was badly shaken.

    I had the Prius towed to a nearby dealer and I'm waiting to hear how much damage the car suffered. I am sad my new car is harmed but I am impressed with how it protected me from all but minor (so far) whiplash. The Prius gets high marks for safety in addition to fuel economy and low emissions.
     
    #1 askreeger, Nov 5, 2004
  2. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2004
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    Location:
    Northwest VT
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    That so sucks! I'm glad the Prius safety features worked as designed. A horrible misfortune for you but it is good information from the real world.
     
    #2 bruceha_2000, Nov 5, 2004
  3. flyingprius

    flyingprius New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2004
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    Location:
    Daytona Beach, FL
    Askreeger,
    That sucks so much that you only had 235 miles when you got rear ended! I am sorry to hear that the Prius got damaged, but glad to hear your neck is alright. The insurance institute for highway safety gave the 2001-3 and the 2004/5 Prius the highest rating possible for headrest geometry "A" in all five seating positions. I am glad Toyota looks out for our safety for all 5 seating positions. It's amazing that certain car companies (Ford, GM, Chrysler) still don't install adequate headrests in their vehicles let alone any in the rear seat (it's still NOT required for the back row to have headrests--- so of course the Americans hardly do it). This is one of the many reasons I drive a Toyota, I know they look out for me. I hope every thing works out ok for you.
    Don't get me started on being rear ended by large American vehicles...
    Flyingprius
     
    #3 flyingprius, Nov 5, 2004
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