Small cars aren't safe....

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by xy500

isnt the focus technically a mid size car?
impact speed would have to be much less than 100 for that sort of damage, i've seen a rodeo look similar after a 60kmh smash.
glad everyone is ok

I think its classed as a small car, I'm not sure, its in the same league as the Mazda 3, etc. Fiesta is a "supermini".

Originally Posted by 4vxc

if that was a 90km/h hit I'd say the ute did well

Yeah I think the reason why is because when I hit him how his ute slid, I actually knocked his ute from the far right hand lane facing the emergency lane to all the way back into the grass past the emergency lane facing me.

If I hit him and his ute didn't move at all I'd probably be dead I reckon.

I jammed on the brakes and you know how it usually locks for a split second than unlocks with ABS, well it didn't have time to unlock before we hit. I wished I braked earlier haha but it happened so fast, Swerved and then I'm sitting in the middle of the freeway with my airbags deployed.

Originally Posted by Burnout

Nice stack Damo, good to know you are ok.
Many happy moments to think about it as you walk to work.......

Haha, long walk then, 55km.

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

Man .. that's a decent hit.
Lucky to walk away ... shame about the new car as well.
Got another one ordered yet???

Haven't yet but insurance says they'll replace it with a new one in the first 2 years, but I want a frozen white oen again which is a pain in the *** to find. I wonder if they'll give me a MKII now instead of MKI?

I was talking to AAMI on the phone and they're like we'll take it back to our assessors and they'll make the final call if they can fix it... Good luck fixing that.

I rang up Dad after I got out of the car, and I said don't panic but I just had a car accident, he rang up Mum and they where both more shaken up then I was haha.

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

I'm surprised he got out of that one alive, the Rodeo looks like a banana,

i think you'll see that he didn't have anything to bump into (would've ended up in the passenger seat).

my first impression the way you describe the accident, what a moron he was to back across the freeway (intentional or not).

glad you're ok.. say does that mean a new car? i mean, would you want them to fix it?

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by aussie muscle

i think you'll see that he didn't have anything to bump into (would've ended up in the passenger seat).

my first impression the way you describe the accident, what a moron he was to back across the freeway (intentional or not).

glad you're ok.. say does that mean a new car? i mean, would you want them to fix it?

New car for sure, I don't really want them to repair it even if it was possible because it wouldn't drive the same again. Plus they'd probably cut and shut or something like that, and I think I used up all its safety gadgets, lol.

[Fled74]

Good to see you're in one piece. Shame about the car, but it did its job well in protecting you.

[Quicksand]

I'm very, very impressed with how the Focus stacked up in that accident. Well done Ford on providing a first class safe vehicle.

Glad to hear everyone is OK!!!!

[Franco Cozzo]

Insurance company rang me just before, "where do you want the car repaired?"

Ahh, I don't think you can repair it.

"Oh but if it can be repaired where do you want it repaired?"

I told them to take a look at the car, then ring me back.

"Oh, the car is a total write-off, we're going to replace it with a new car".

Hopefully I can get the same colour and in manual.

[Gobes32]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Insurance company rang me just before, "where do you want the car repaired?"

Ahh, I don't think you can repair it.

"Oh but if it can be repaired where do you want it repaired?"

I told them to take a look at the car, then ring me back.

"Oh, the car is a total write-off, we're going to replace it with a new car".

Hopefully I can get the same colour and in manual.

Count yourself lucky mate, they repair anything these days, I had my territorys bodyside cut and shut and the chassis pulled straight. Nearly 14K in repairs so they did not have to pay me out 25K. It sucks and the worst part is they are legally allowed to do it.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Gobes32

Count yourself lucky mate, they repair anything these days, I had my territorys bodyside cut and shut and the chassis pulled straight. Nearly 14K in repairs so they did not have to pay me out 25K. It sucks and the worst part is they are legally allowed to do it.

No way in hell would I accept a cut and shut, or a repair on an accident which caused that much damage to the car, i bet if the same thing happened again on a car that had a cut and shut, it wouldn't hold up anywhere near as good.

[Gobes32]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

No way in hell would I accept a cut and shut, or a repair on an accident which caused that much damage to the car, i bet if the same thing happened again on a car that had a cut and shut, it wouldn't hold up anywhere near as good.

I moaned and sooked and got angry all to no avail. The law says they are allowed to. Hope this is a quick turn around for you. Maybe start shopping this arvo??? lol

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Gobes32

I moaned and sooked and got angry all to no avail. The law says they are allowed to. Hope this is a quick turn around for you. Maybe start shopping this arvo??? lol

Haha, not too comfortable with getting back on the road just yet, but I'm on carsales

I can't find any Frozen White ones here in Victoria though.

[The Yeti]

mate glad to hear no one was hurt

I'm an old car nut, love em cant get excited about new cars at all.

BUT

my wife carts, my kids arround in a late modle car with airbags (side curtains etc) ABS and all the safety stuff, WHY becasue Ive worked at to many MVA's where people havent gotten out, at all let alown with our assistance so for transport its a new car

the big old cars are cool but theres no way my wife and kids are going to be be using one as the family taxi

for a great video check out Youtube theres a cracker of a 60's Chev V a late model car you'll see why Isay what I said

[Franco Cozzo]

The police said they want to charge the other kid with culpable driving, but I don't really want to see him charged with something, its not like he did it on purpose.

I think its punishment enough that we're both without cars and we're freakin lucky we both come out of it alive and with no serious injuries. Whats the point on charging him, he'd lose his license, and subsequently his job and have a record already, not a nice thing for someone who is just starting out in life.

[Burnout]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

The police said they want to charge the other kid with culpable driving, but I don't really want to see him charged with something, its not like he did it on purpose.

I think its punishment enough that we're both without cars and we're freakin lucky we both come out of it alive and with no serious injuries. Whats the point on charging him, he'd lose his license, and subsequently his job and have a record already, not a nice thing for someone who is just starting out in life.

Not up to you Damo..... The wollopers will charge if there's an appropriate offense.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Burnout

Not up to you Damo..... The wollopers will charge if there's an appropriate offense.

Yep, thats what they said, wasn't too happy when I mentioned that I didn't want him charged with anything.

[BFZF8]

Good to see you're OK after that, mate. Looks like a beauty. I hope the new car doesn't have to take one like that too.

[Franco Cozzo]

If I didn't swerve and I hit his front quarter, do you reckon he'd be dead or injured badly?

[WMD351]

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, how does the rest of that one go again?
A million and one things could have happened, but what did happen is all that counts. The new car doesn't make you invincible, it just puts the odds in your favor. It all comes down to a roll of the dice. Still, when gambling it's always smart to stack the odds in your favor as best you can ie. safe car.

[GK]

Glad the car's safety gear did its job and protected you both.

Hope you find a good replacement vehicle soon.

GK

[sudszy]

Looking at the photos, it appears that you have crashed the car in the best way possible. The car is designed to meet the 50km/h head on fixed barrier, so its believable(just) that it would survive close to double that into a moveable object of possibly 1.5? times the mass.

While you have commented on how safe small new cars here, perhaps consider if the incident had been the other way around and the rodeo had tboned your driver's door, I dont think you would be here to tell us about it.

In fact it appears the rodeo driver did very well, he was lucky in the sense that he was tboned from the left and not the driver's door.

Its not the indentation or protrusion into the cabin here that causes the problem, its the violent acceleration of the vehicle to the left or right that will have the occupants heads hitting the door/window glass/frames that does most of the damage, side air bags only do so much for a 100km/h hit.

Since the rodeo was accelerated to the right , the driver's head moves towards the middle of the car(the head tries to stay where it was the car moves) not hitting anything, hence the driver was able to walk away.

[BadMax]

Just to clarify some statements being made.
Cut and shuts are pretty much done and dusted these days. No insurer will ever allow a cut and shut to happen today, even dodgy AAMI. All repairs should be done to manufacturers spec.

The clip you're looking for is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g

[Zedjay]

Originally Posted by dannyhilton

Shoot mate, the Focus came out of that just dandy. The cabin appears to be near perfect, the structure from that picture looks spot on? Even the front has done pretty well for an impact of that speed. The Europeans know their stuff. Even still, you have the advantage of a longer bonnet there which has sustained much of the impact, I'm not too sure my Fiesta would be as pretty a picture.

But more to the point, do you get to keep the number plate? I mean, that's awesome!

i had a head on with a fiesta in my NP pajero and the chick driving the fiesta wasnt too badly injured...but i havnt worked since have back and shoulder problems.. if you saw the cars you would be like .

she went straight under the drivers side wheel and flipped us over 3 times.
the fiesta had its front ripped off from the firewall forward and the engine was about 50 meters away from it...
when we went to have a look at my Paj (diddnt remember to much from the crash) i found the alternator from the fiester under my drivers seat.. i got some pics somwhere

[WMD351]

Sorry to hear about your troubles Zedjay, thanks for sharing though.
When I see pictures of those accidents where the engine ends up 50m up the road the first thing I always think about is how much energy did it take to throw the block that far? Energy that didn't get transferred into the cars occupants but was taken away from the crash.
I wouldn't want to crash Fiestas for a living though.

[Danny]

FIESTA engine is designed to break away in a frontal.

Congrats on a good outcome Damo. I.E, you're alive!

[sudszy]

Originally Posted by WMD351

When I see pictures of those accidents where the engine ends up 50m up the road the first thing I always think about is how much energy did it take to throw the block that far? Energy that didn't get transferred into the cars occupants but was taken away from the crash.
.

Not wanting to be too pedantic here, but the whole "Energy that didn't get transferred into the cars occupants but was taken away from the crash, absorbed by the crumple zone" is a bit of a crock that has unfortunately been perpetuated by safety advertising literature.
Somehow people have the idea now that if they are in a bigger vehicle that has no crumple zone, then more energy will be transferred to the occupants than if they were in a smaller vehicle with no crumple zone, no
If all the energy of a moving vehicle was disappated solely to the occupants, we'd have body parts flying km from the scene!

The basics of what is happening in a collision is we are trying to have the car's occupants acceleration and the consequent forces that act on them reduced to survivable levels, by extending the time/distance of the collision for the occupant.
Have a look at the crash testing videos, its all about how far the body has to travel in going from 50km/h to rest and whether they collide with anything firm in the car doing this.

If we sit far enough behind the wheel and just have a giant airbag we could easily achieve safe levels of deacceleration without any crumple zones at all, the airbag is clearly not absorbing any of the vehicle's energy, just the persons kinetic energy to be disappated and transferred more slowly.

Before seatbelts and collapsable steering columns the mechanism for drivers to stop was for them to be impaled on the end of the steering shaft, a large force acting on a very small area of body over a small time. The airbag does the same thing, but exerts a smaller force over a much larger area of body over a much greater time, survivable.

[MISTA FIESTA]

Glad to hear your ok Damo. Could have been alot worse. Not to steer anyone away from your ordeal, but just wanted to re iterate that Fords Small Car's are also Built Ford Tough.

These are both Fiesta's (1st is WP, 2nd is XR4)

[302 XC]

Just to proove that larger cars are safe here
I hit a large mass head on at 100Ks in a ford courier
It didnt sustain the damage the little car did
It was actually still driveable
Sustained no personal injury
I remember many moons ago looking at commondores
One model was actually shockin in safety ,but the next model came with airbags standard
And wow it was suddenly so much safer

Your very lucky they are goin to replace it
As with reference above regarding spending 14K on damage on a 25K car
They will do this all day

[Gobes32]

Originally Posted by BadMax

Just to clarify some statements being made.
Cut and shuts are pretty much done and dusted these days. No insurer will ever allow a cut and shut to happen today, even dodgy AAMI. All repairs should be done to manufacturers spec.

The clip you're looking for is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g

Interesting. I was shocked at what they did also. Essentially, they cut my bodyside in half and removed all the crumpled area, pulled the chassis straight, purchased a new bodyside from Ford, cut it in half and welded it to my car. Now I am personally aware on tolerances allowed with stamped panels so it was astonishing to know they could do what they did. As a side note, my insurer was AAMI.

[xy500]

Originally Posted by sudszy

Looking at the photos, it appears that you have crashed the car in the best way possible. The car is designed to meet the 50km/h head on fixed barrier, so its believable(just) that it would survive close to double that into a moveable object of possibly 1.5? times the mass.

sense this not make.
lets not bring the arguments of another thread into this one

[Dave3911]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

The police said they want to charge the other kid with culpable driving, but I don't really want to see him charged with something, its not like he did it on purpose.

I think its punishment enough that we're both without cars and we're freakin lucky we both come out of it alive and with no serious injuries. Whats the point on charging him, he'd lose his license, and subsequently his job and have a record already, not a nice thing for someone who is just starting out in life.

Culpable?? Nobody died...... cant be culpable. Sure they didnt say Dangerous or Reckless Driving?

At the end of the day - an accident has occured, a serious one at that and someone has been found to be at fault. The police are just doing their job by charging him.

Of course he didnt do it on purpose - but he did purposefully do something illegal and reckless on a freeway and it's ended causing an accident.

[music189]

Originally Posted by BadMax

Just to clarify some statements being made.
Cut and shuts are pretty much done and dusted these days. No insurer will ever allow a cut and shut to happen today, even dodgy AAMI. All repairs should be done to manufacturers spec.

The clip you're looking for is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g

Slight vering off topic, probably should be posted at You tube link but VB to VK commodore crash test link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgjtSilW8yM

and I have been thinking of a Focus Purchase, you just made my mind up it certainly safe