Volvo 1, Accura 0...

Well it finally happened. I stopped at a light the other day in my 242
Turbo, glanced in my rearview mirror and saw a green flash and then
WHAM!! What turned out to be an Accura Integra slammed into my back end
at probably 20 mph. I felt my head snap back against the headrest, the
glove box popped open and suddenly I was 8 feet forward on the other
side of the crosswalk. When I came to my senses and realized what had
happened, I found that my car was still running so I pulled into a
nearby parking lot and got out to inspect the damage. Fearing the worst,
I was in absolute disbelief at what I saw. Some small scuff marks on the
bumper skin and I had lost a piece of corner trim above the bumper, as
well as lots of green paint smeared on the exhaust pipe and trailer
hitch. I was shocked again when the woman who hit me pulled in and I got
a good look at her car. My trailer hitch receiver had punched a hole all
the way through her bumper and the sheetmetal behind it. My bumper
crunched the plastic front end then caught the edge of her hood and
crumpled up the first foot of that as the strut braces on the DrawTite
hitch bar rode up, forcing the front of her car harmlessly under mine
where it then impacted the main part of the hitch frame and smashed
more. She had no insurance so this could have been a real mess for me if
things had been worse. The whole thing reminded me of someone punching a
jagged stone wall with their bare fist. Amazing.

Don't bring plastic to a brick fight

 

wow james......glad it was not more serious......another brick
strutts it's stuff......

 

I had a similar incident in my then 10 year old 1972 MB 280S quite a
number of years ago. I however saw the guy coming soon enough to tense
my body and absorb the hit without so much as a stiff neck. I was
stopping for a red light, jammed the brake pedal down when I saw him,
and my car hardly moved when hit.

The Japanese whatever that hit me (Nissan I think?) was pretty well a
right-off for the first foot or 2 of car, and also it looked like he
had just ran it full on into a flat brick wall.

My bumper - pretty solid back then - had been shifted in toward the
bodywork about a quarter of an inch. No other damage on my side -
nothing! Rubber bumper piece scuffed a bit.

They don't make'em like they used to.

===================

 

Once they decided that absorbing energy could include 'sacrificing'
the bumper and front sheetmetal in low-speed crashes, it became a whole
new ballgame for fender-benders. That's why I try to find cars with real
5MPH bumper systems.

 

yep...they refer to these as crumple zones now, right?

 

[/QUOTE]

James, very glad it wasn't worse for you or the other driver.

The idea nowadays is that the survival of the occupants is more
important than the survival of the car, so it is seen as sacrificial.

 

a little off topic, but a zillion years ago i was driving my dad's
high-zoot 64 ford galaxie, 4000 lbs at least, looked sideways for a
second, rammed the back of a rambler american of all things at the
light. rambler was unscratched, guy left without even taking my info.
galaxie had to be towed, radiator pushed back into the fan.

 

James, very glad it wasn't worse for you or the other driver.

The idea nowadays is that the survival of the occupants is more
important than the survival of the car, so it is seen as sacrificial.[/QUOTE]


Notice I wrote "low-speed crashes." How worried are you about not
surviving one in your Volvo?

 

....and always leave the hitch in the receiver.
Sure, you bust a shin on it now and then, but it goes a long way to
protecting your rear end.

I got plowed on the way to an AC/DC concert at Long Beach Sports Arena.
Ten of us in a '66 Plymouth wagon battle cruiser.
Caught it in the rearview just in time to say "Were gonna get... bam! hit"
The folks partying in the back said 'huh?'... didn't even feel it.

The newish Celica that hit us was mortally wounded. Radiator bleeding
(thanks to the hitch) bumper, grill, and hood buckled.
I couldn't even tell which dent it put in the bumper of the old wagon.

The kid got nervous when ten of us piled out to check the 'damage.'
He was going to the concert too and we were one turn away so I suggested
he drive it in and enjoy the show.
Then he can call mommy later and explain how he wrecked the car she just
bought him.

 

Yeah and the 240 has crumple zones too, there's just some real structure
involved so they don't crumple so readily. In a high speed collision
they perform as designed, seen many 240s in salvage yards that crumpled
just as intended to protect the occupants.