I hit black ice once, fishtailed and went 90 degrees left. Shot like a rocket. I don't think she probably lost much initial speed. 70 to 55 maybe.

Time to get the hammer and start crackin on the repairs laddie.....

 

Hey Curtis, kinda looks like a stretch of I-15. People do 90+ on that freeway. Be glad she wasn't one of those, not that a tercel could go that fast.

 

Given the extent of the damage and the fact that it's a Toyota I'd say around 40 mph.

 

If the engine or frame rails are pushed back I would gusetamate about 65 but if most of the front end is ok Id give her the benefit of the doubt 40 - 55.

I had to take vehicle accident remake / estimate course for the fire house.

In fact we recreated a accident scene earlyer this morning for a pedestrian accident.

Glad shes ok

 

i'd guess around 45. glad the wifey is alright, looks like the passenger might have a BAD headache...what's the story on the windshield???

 

If you think of a vector analysis, the frontal impact probably was not more in the 15-20 MPH range. Remember, her straight ahead speed was 70 MPH with a 90*degree vector of 0. As the car skidded to point 90* of the original direction, most of the forward speed continued and it started accelerating from 0 MPH to some forward speed before impact. Skidding sideways was slowing the initial forward speed rapidly, but unless she had her foot planted on the accelerator, there was little to increase the speed toward the wall.

Trees

 

If you think of a vector analysis, the frontal impact probably was not more in the 15-20 MPH range. Remember, her straight ahead speed was 70 MPH with a 90*degree vector of 0. As the car skidded to point 90* of the original direction, most of the forward speed continued and it started accelerating from 0 MPH to some forward speed before impact. Skidding sideways was slowing the initial forward speed rapidly, but unless she had her foot planted on the accelerator, there was little to increase the speed toward the wall.

Trees

hey trees, i thought of that too before i posted but looking at the pic it doesn't look like a glancing blow. the damage looks the same all the way across the front and the frontend looks like it was pushed straight back and not off at an angle..just argueing, no offence intended... :thumbup:

 

Maybe to fast!!!!

 

I look at it like this...Your wife is ok and she wasn't driving your hot rod so why are we worried about a throw away car?.

 

If you think of a vector analysis, the frontal impact probably was not more in the 15-20 MPH range. Remember, her straight ahead speed was 70 MPH with a 90*degree vector of 0. As the car skidded to point 90* of the original direction, most of the forward speed continued and it started accelerating from 0 MPH to some forward speed before impact. Skidding sideways was slowing the initial forward speed rapidly, but unless she had her foot planted on the accelerator, there was little to increase the speed toward the wall.

Trees

This is a good answer. Most frontal crash tests are 45 MPH i think and those cars are pretty bad. I would suspect that velocity would have made it a jaws of life extraction. 20-30 would proably be a realistic #.

heres 70 MPH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju6t-yyoU8s

 

Just make sure she gets back behind the wheel as soon as possible. There is always a chance that this kind of thing can lead to a person losing the confidence to drive again.

As for how fast....Looks fast enough to me. :thumbup:

 

I'v had plenty of wrecks and seen plenty of wrecks working at an auto body shop for a while.

theres lots of factors, and the fact that she hit the wall at a 90* angle while sliding sideways makes it tough to judge.

It "looks" like a 30MPH rear end crash. however I'd say it'd be safe to double (or as much as tripple that) to make up for sideways movement and braking power.

 

About 20 MPH.





R :thumbup:

 

Yep, when it really comes down to it, the car had slowed to 15-20 mph.

If you were to hit a contrete wall at 45-65 the car would be tiny pieces and she would be too! There would be parts 100 ft from the car!

Brian

 

I'm real glad the smart car in that link kept the windshield from breaking. I would of lost my legs but who cares as long as the windshield is still good. Right?

 

Just make sure she gets back behind the wheel as soon as possible. There is always a chance that this kind of thing can lead to a person losing the confidence to drive again

That almost did my driving in. I ditched my '78 Monte pretty bad a long time ago, and after driving it home, I just could not drive it again. My dad told me to "get in and drive that car the same as you did last week, or just cut your license up because you'll never drive again". Tough to do, but I did.


Glad to hear your wife is o.k. Metal can be replaced quite easily, good wives are a lot harder to come by...


In a while, Chet.

 

Upon first seeing the picture and considering your question I was going to say about 25-30 mph, based on the damage we all see in those government crash test videos where the car is moving at 35 and the damage is generally worse than what I see in that picture. Trees offered a much cooler explanation though :thumbup:

 

i'd guess around 45. glad the wifey is alright, looks like the passenger might have a BAD headache...what's the story on the windshield???

Its pretty simple... the driver's (my wife) air bag gets its impact into the steering wheel. Very little of the driver's impact hits the windshield. Her passenger's airbag comes up out of the dash and back, so its main force is into the windshield. That is why the windshield is smashed on the passenger side.

The injuries were SO minimal. My wife got the tiniest mild burns on her wrists from the airbag exhaust (totally typical) and a bruised nose from hitting the airbag while wearing sunglasses. She also had very mild bruises on her knees from hitting the dash. Her passenger had a lot of pain in his left hand, but X-rays revealed that it was just a bad bruise. He wore a brace for one day and then the pain was gone. It was assumed that his hand hit the dashboard on impact. Put it this way... they were both on their way to work when the accident happened, and after being checked out by paramedics on the scene, they both continued on to work.

 

I look at it like this...Your wife is ok and she wasn't driving your hot rod so why are we worried about a throw away car?.

I'm not In fact I didn't hesitate when I signed the title and handed it to the tow truck driver. I pulled her CDs out of the glove box and watched it drive away. The insurance company was on the scene and wrote me a check on the spot for actually more than I thought it was worth.... So I used that check and my tax return to buy her a 99 Mercedes E300 diesel. Its a tank with 8 airbags, active traction control, and ABS.

 

Just make sure she gets back behind the wheel as soon as possible. There is always a chance that this kind of thing can lead to a person losing the confidence to drive again.

I was so proud of her... she actually drove MY car away from the crash. She had NO problems driving within 20 minutes of nearly dying. In fact a couple days later she left me a note in the morning saying she took my car to drive up to Angeles Crest since it was such a pretty day.

I have an amazing wife. :thumbup:

 

Glad to hear your wife is o.k. Metal can be replaced quite easily, good wives are a lot harder to come by....

amen to that. She is my soul mate for life. Regardless of how fast she hit the wall, I caught a glimpse of what it might be like to lose her. That sucks.