Prius involved in head-on collision near Portland, OR

Looks from the picture that the jaws were used on the other car. Looks like the Prius held up well. Let's hope everyones going to be fine.

 

Prayers for everyone, but the Prius did it's job. RIP another Prius that gave it's all for it's riders.

 

wow. the whole engine compartment is just gone. but the passenger compartment is pretty well intact.

yikes. scary.

let's hope everyone's okay.

 

Pretty amazing that the front doors still open.

Scary stuff... That is one accident you don't want to be in any car....

 

Looks like another trim ring lying on the road there...

Where in heck did the engine, motor and all the rest end up?!

 

wow well.. the short stoy said one person was rescued when they had to cut open the car... so i'm guessing that person was the more critial one. i'm guessing the other two were in the prius.


from the way it looks to me... that other car hit the prius. the prius is stitting at an angle where it was hit going strait. the other car looks like he turned into the prius but kinda bounced into the field.. to put it lightly.

hope they are all ok. i just hope it wasn't some stupid " want to commit suicide" type of dumb thing. i just can't justify someone cutting into the other lane like that.... *shrug*... then again maybe the prius was slowing. it looks like the prius got pushed back while the other car kept advancing along it's path. had to say.

said either way.

later note:.. i'm watching the video (more) and i notice the tracks across the center. the black car headed strait for that prius

 

Wow, I'm on that stretch of road just about every day. Looks like the Prius did it's job. Will be curious to see what the backstory is here, as that's about a straight a stretch of road as you can get.

 

That was a good video. It looks like the Prius did as much as it could to protect its passengers. Seeing them go by ground ambulance instead of in the helicopter is a good sign. I hope everyone is well soon.

 

I have to say I am impressed. The Prius was obviously seriously damaged, yet all the doors were able to be opened. I mean the Celica had to be peeled open to get the drover out. Very impressive.

 

I'd like to know if the Prius engine intruded into the passenger area.

My very poor understanding of car safety design thought that buckling *around* the passenger compartment was a good thing; so seeing what looks like a well preserved Prius from the windshield backwards is not an obvious good thing AFAIK.

I hope more information on the accidents, cars, and passengers is forthcoming.

 

Wow, just wow!!

I traded in my 2000 Celica and got a 2006 Prius. I would be extremely interested to get all the info about this story. For sure Prius has better crash test rating. I hope everybody is ok.

Edit: From the video, you can see Prius deployed both driver and passenger air bags. Both of them were taken into the ground Ambulances.

The Celica is the pre-2000 (round edge) model and I did not see any air bag depoyment. The driver was taken into the Life Flight helicopter, meaning in more serious condition.

Dennis

 

the integrity of the passenger cabin still looks good. that bodes well for the Prius pasengers

anyone identify the other car...hard to say with no roof in tact

**edit**

great video...maybe a testament to the braking control of the Prius. it is still pretty much in its lane. most likely the other car was in the Prius lane and in its effort to get out of the lane it went sideways and into the ditch after hitting the Prius. in a lot of accidents, collateral damage is what kills.

now this could also mean that the Prius driver was asleep and made no evasive manuvers either. but would like to think that traction control and VSC kept her on the road.

here the other car is lucky that there is no bridge abutments, cliffs, etc.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Apr 1 2006, 11:38 AM) [snapback]233400[/snapback]</div>

Yea, the Prius hood bended downard and did not block the windsheild at all. The Prius performed very similar to that European crash test pic that was posted in another thread.

Dennis

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Apr 1 2006, 06:09 AM) [snapback]233377[/snapback]</div>

actually Eric, in this situation, not having damage in the back on a full headon is a good sign. unlike the matrix, in real life, damage in the back would mean compression of the passenger compartment which usually means severe injuries. the fact that the back end of the car (not to mention the side windows) are not damaged means the passengers most severe damage most likely came from the restraint system.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Apr 1 2006, 09:09 AM) [snapback]233377[/snapback]</div>

Actually it's the opposite. You have probelms when the passenger compartmnts structure is compromised and starts to deform. Then parts of the car that are supposed to hold the people starts to intrude into the space. Only one thing can occupy a given space at once, and in an accident I'd prefer it to be me and not the door frame or the like. Maintaining the passener compartment is of utmost importance. It's easier to control passengers motion within the vehicle (and thus design effective restaints and airbags) if you know that the space you are working woth is not going to change shape radically in an impact.

I imagine in the Prius, it's designed like most Mercedes and Volvos, where the engine and transmission is designed to drop down and under the car rather than intrude into the passenger compartment. Yes, ultimately it means more damage to the car, but if the trade off is less or no injuries, then it's not really a trade off is it?

I know that Volvo, when it designed the XC90, it actually did simulations and tests to see how much space was left under the hood AFTER a crash, and then told the engineers, "here is the space in which to fit the motor." Just one of the reasons the XC90 is THE safest car on the road, and the primary reason we have one.

 

I too am hopeful that everyone in both cars survive the crash. Likewise, I am very impressed with the Prius and how intact the passenger compartments appear. Once again, I am very glad I purchased a Prius knowing that it's safety rating is truly justified. Thank you Toyota!