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[Genem]

Coming home from a shopping trip today we were not far behind this incident, a French couple in a Vauxhall hire car struck pretty well head on by a Clio, at speed and on the wrong side of the road on a sharp bend. You can see how far the Vauxhall was knocked back from the point of impact, the Clio is sitting on a pile of debris. Both vehicles suffered extensive damage but all the occupants walked away with no more than minor injuries.

First Ambulance arrived with in 10 minutes, very good considering its a pretty rural location, first Police car a few minutes later. Eventually the Ambulance took the two girls to A&E to be checked out, while the Police took the French couple and their luggage back to their Hotel to await the arrival of Avis with another hire car....having told Avis in strong terms that telling the driver he would have to wait with the wreck "until they could come out" and that he'd have to go back to Glasgow Airport for another car was "Not on, the guys been in a crash, he needs to be in the warm & dry."

10/10 to the Police and Ambulance Services, 10/10 to the airbags. Rather fewer points to Avis Customer Service...   

[alchad]

Absolutely 10/10 for the police, they often get stick but that sounds like good old common sense policing. George Dixon would have been proud……am I showing my age?

Alchad

[ChrisJC]

It's a testament to the millions of man-hours of engineering that goes into the safety of modern vehicles. Unsung and unrecognised until you are in a crash.

Engineers - the unsung heroes of just about everything we do. Saving idiots from themselves!

Chris.

P.S. The french couple may have been less fortunate if they had hired a Series II.

[Genem]

P.S. The french couple may have been less fortunate if they had hired a Series II.

Absolutely. Considerably more immoveable metal to rattle your head off.  The site is a very sharp bend after a long straight, regularly catches people out. If the French couples car had not been in the way I suspect the Clio would have been through the fence, and down the bank into the field on the left of the picture..   

[LCJ]

Seeing accidents like this is very sobering.

My wife is currently in hospital recovering from being t-boned by a van which was swerving to avoid a driver on the side of the road. She will be fine in time, but it has got me questioning the merit of running around in the 2a either solo or with the kids. Our Skoda Superb was written off but they way it dealt with the crash undoubtedly saved my wife from more severe injuries or worse - the same crash in the Land Rover doesn’t bear thinking about

[gcc130]

This chap was lucky to walk away from colliding with my parked Defender 130 recently at 30mph. He pushed the 13O & trailer 6’ back, in gear with the handbrake applied.
Air bags deployed and only injury was a slight mark on his forehead.
Apparently he didn’t see it……….

[George1990]

What structural damage did the 130 sustain?

[gcc130]

Unfortunately quite a lot, although I did drive it home.
Initial thoughts were that the chassis had been turned into a parallelogram as the passenger door had dropped and couldn’t be opened. however when the crumpled wing was removed the top of the bulkhead popped forward and all went back into line, all lines up on chassis jig.
Damage repair included new bumper, air con grill surround, wing, lights and surround, new wolf rim and tyre, new swivel, track rod ends, power steering box and suspension rebuild and of course paint.
It’s been away 8 weeks and cost £7500 ish plus the cost of hire of Ford Ranger at£350 a week!
Luckily he admitted full liability……

[autorover1]

A friend of mine was in a head on in his 2A & a Ford  on the wrong side of the road . He was concussed , head hit the screen & he was wearing a belt, but no other injuries. Front bumper was pushed about 2 ft  and engine went into & under the bulkhead.   Unfortunately the other driver did not survive

[w3526602]

Hi,

Some of you may remember ... I was sitting watching TV, when I heard a "trump" type noise outside, looked out the window, saw Barbara's SAAB parked sideways across the road.

I later learned that she had arrived home, and parked (facing the wrong way) behind my lovely Disco (facing the right way). She climbed out of the SAAB, and decided it was parked too far from the kerb. So she climbed back in (didn't close the door), and started the engine.

SAABs must be in reverse gear, in order to remove the ignition key. She accepts that she must not have selected neutral before turning the key (nor closing the driver's door).

SAAB runs amok, high revs, despite neither fo by front of front wingot being on any pedal. SAAB heads for my Disco. Barbara spins steering wheel to avoid it. Driver's door on SAAB stilll open, hits the Disco in the head lamp, folding the SAAB door back against the front wing, followed the front of the SAAB wing hitting my Disco.

SAAB continues across the road, reverses into Ford Transit van that was parked on other side of the road, pushing the front end against the kerb, bending the front wheel, and making the "trump" noise as the tyre deflated.

Quite impressive score ... three vehicles written off, in about 15 to 20 feet, from a standing start in reverse.

LV were wonderful.  "What happened?" they asked. "I turned the key, and the car ran amok!"

Within an hour, both our wrecks had been collected, and a courtesy car had been delivered. No documentation required, insurance payout received soon after. I had said that I wished to claim my losses from Barbara, and LV knew immediately why ... no sense in us both losing our No Claims. We didn't enquire too deeply into how the Transit driver got on.

Interestingly, Barbara's Hyundai cannot be started unless one's foot is on the clutch. Not difficult to arrange on a Series, just insert an oil pressure switch into brake hydraulics, to connect a starter solenoid to the starter button.

602

[Wittsend]

I think you'll find most/all modern cars now need to have the clutch depressed before you can start the engine.
(my car has no ignition key - just a button to press for the starter)

Air bags, along with safety belts make a great contribution (along with vehicle design) in preventing injury (and death).
I think they won't activate if your speed is below 20 mph and below a certain G force.
If you are sat in a stationary vehicle and you get hit, the accelerometer should activate the air bags
Perhaps someone can test this.

They of course don't reduce accidents 

 

[Ian F]

It's an interesting development having to depress the clutch to start - our modern demands that like many others.
I remember being told many years ago not to depress the clutch when starting - it was said to put unnecessary wear on the crankshaft thrust washers? I wonder if that still applies to modern engines?

Ian F

[Worf]

It's an interesting development having to depress the clutch to start - our modern demands that like many others.
I remember being told many years ago not to depress the clutch when starting - it was said to put unnecessary wear on the crankshaft thrust washers? I wonder if that still applies to modern engines?

Ian F

Interestingly, I was told to do the opposite many years ago, and that the battery wouldn't be put under as much strain 
I used to have an old Volvo 240 that was impossible to get into reverse on starting up on a very cold morning. Put it down to "drag" from thick gearbox oil. You had to select reverse first and keep your foot on the clutch, so I now do it automatically.

[Wittsend]

Interestingly, I was told to do the opposite many years ago, and that the battery wouldn't be put under as much strain 
I used to have an old Volvo 240 that was impossible to get into reverse on starting up on a very cold morning. Put it down to "drag" from thick gearbox oil. You had to select reverse first and keep your foot on the clutch, so I now do it automatically.

I was told the same, and do with the Land Rover.
Less strain on the battery, more so in the cold winter.
Never done any harm to the crank shafts or what ever in all my engines over the years.

If it's bad practice then I apologise to all my engines.


 

[Ian F]

I think I can see that the clutch release bearing would push the crank forward when engaged (?) but this tale is perhaps something invented by an old timer to impress any young audience willing to listen.......

Ian F